Night Chase
by Casey Storm
Summary: Chase wakes up severely injured and with no memory of the last 24 hours. How did he get hurt? Where is his family? And why does everyone want him dead? (OC warning / No ships or pairings / Rating warning inside)
1. The Nightmare Begins

**A/N: So I finally worked up enough courage to attempt another multi-chapter story. I'm already over halfway done writing this story, so hopefully I'll be able to post updates on a fairly regular schedule. This takes place during/after the fourth season, so they already have the Bionic Academy and all of Krane's ex-soldiers.**

 **Rating Warning: This story is rated T for injuries, some blood, potentially disturbing thoughts, and mild violence/action. But there is** _ **NO**_ **swearing, mature themes, or slash. I** _ **NEVER**_ **write that sort of thing into my stories. Also, I went with the T rating more to be safe than anything; I never go overly-gory with my writing.**

 **OC warning: This story contains a few OCs, including one who will be featured rather prominently for a little while. However, there is no need to worry about an OCxCharacter sort of plot, as you will find out soon. This is just a warning in case you don't like stories with OCs (I know there are quite a few people who don't)**

 **Cover Art: by Wintershadow35**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins**

There were sounds all around him. He could hear them everywhere. Some loud and up close, some echoing and distant. The loudest sound, though, was a throbbing coming from his own head. It was pulsing relentlessly through his brain and causing his thoughts to jumble together.

 _Where am I?_

He slid his eyes open cautiously and peered out at the outside world. The surrounding darkness eventually gave way to vague shapes as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. It was a large, empty building. There were some crates scattered here and there. Along one wall, a large pile of lumber smelled like it had been left too long. The floor was concrete and covered in at least one year's worth of dust. This last fact he discovered after inhaling too much of it and having his lungs react with a violent coughing fit.

He was lying with his stomach on the floor and there was broken glass all around him. Placing both hands squarely under himself, he pushed upwards and managed to achieve a position on all fours. His left hand felt oddly numb and almost gave out on him.

 _Why am I so weak? Why am I in so much pain?_

Settling back into a sitting position, he reached up to where that throbbing was coming from and gingerly touched the place with his fingers. With a sharp gasp he retracted his hand and felt his vision blur for a second. As soon as he was steady again, he glanced down at his hand and saw blood on it. That at least explained the pain. Or, part of the pain. He noticed that his left hand remained stubbornly useless at his side. Bringing it up into view, he grimaced at the sight of the battered and burned limb. Blackened scorch marks created odd patterns across the skin on the back of his hand.

 _What happened to me?_

It took quite a bit of fighting to hold back the panic he felt rising inside him. He took a few deep breaths and told himself to think this through rationally.

 _Okay, first things first. Who am I?_

That part came easily after a moment's thought. He remembered the lab, his family, the academy. After another second, he remembered his name, Chase Davenport, and pretty much every other detail of his life. Well, almost. For some reason, he couldn't quite remember his home. He had a vague memory of the mansion, but this memory was clouded with darkness and danger. The harder he tried to recall details about the place, the more he felt his hearbeat quicken with anxiety. The throbbing in his head seemed to increase as well. What was so scary about that house?

 _Did something bad happen to me there? Is that why I'm in so much pain?_

He shook his head at the thought, then grimaced slightly as the movement caused his head to ache even more.

No, his injuries were not recieved at the mansion. He knew that much. So where?

There was a loud sound from behind him. Chase almost toppled over trying to turn around quickly, but there was no one there. He realized that his bionic hearing was picking up sounds from outside the building. Focusing on those noises, he could tell that they were the footsteps of quite a large number of people. There were at least a dozen and they were fast approaching the building.

 _I need to run._

He didn't know why. He didn't need to know why. These people were here to take him away. If he didn't get out of there quickly, they might even do something worse. How did he know this? It didn't matter. The point was that he _did_ know this, and he needed to run.

The door flew open with a loud bang that echoed off the walls and made Chase's ears ache. For some reason, his body was having a hard time remembering how to adjust to his bionics. He leapt to his feet a little too quickly and had to pause long enough for his head to stop spinning. Unfortunately, this gave the intruders enough time to form a loose circle around the edges of the floor. His original assessment had been correct. There were at least a dozen of the men, dressed in black and each aiming an assault rifle at Chase's head.

The man who appeared to be in charge of them stepped slightly forward and shouted at him, "Get down on the ground with your hands in front of you. Do it now or we open fire!"

Chase had absolutely no intention of doing what they said. Something in the back of his mind was screaming at him to get out while he still had the chance, but he didn't listen to that either. He was staring in stunned silence at the black jackets the men were wearing and, more specifically, the emblem on those jackets. A deep sense of dread filled every one of his veins.

 _Run!_

Springing into action, he took off across the warehouse floor. He sighted another door on the oppposite side of the building and headed for it. Shots rang out all around and he dodged them as best he could. At least the adrenaline pumping through his system kept his fatigue at bay for the time being. More shots rang out and someone was radioing for backup. He needed to get out of here fast. He tried to activate his force field for protection, but it wasn't responding.

A bullet ripped into the crate directly in front of him; Chase quickly veered his path towards the left and then darted back onto his original course after making sure a pile of boxes blocked their view of him. The door wasn't far ahead now. He attempted his force field again and it activated momentarily before sputtering out. Another bullet almost grazed his leg. The men were closing in on him. Chase leapt over a crate and dodged behind the first pile of lumber. Running between the stacks of boards and the wall, he shortened the distance that still separated him from the door by half.

With only a few yards to go, Chase suddenly felt a searing hot pain tear through his shoulder. He crumpled forward in agony and hit the ground hard. He pressed his hand over the bullet wound in an attempt to stop the blood flow. It was his left shoulder and the fresh injury was only adding to the pain in his charred hand.

 _Take them down._

He couldn't hurt them. It wouldn't be right. These men might have families.

 _They are the enemy. I don't know why, but they are. They will hurt me if I don't hurt them. I need to do this._

Dragging himself to his feet, Chase tried one more time to activate his force field and, this time, it held. He condensed it into a small orb and hurled it at the nearest man - the one who had shot him. The man fell backwards and crashed through a wooden crate. Chase used his molecular kinesis to pull one of the piles of lumber down onto three more men. Apparently, the wood was a lot heavier than it looked; the men stayed down. The rest of the men - the _enemy_ \- stayed at a safe distance and opened fire with their rifles.

Chase turned and dashed through the door, slamming it shut behind him. Using his magnetism app, he crushed the mechanisms in the doorknob; the men inside would have to break down the door to get out this side of the building.

Turning, he surveyed the area with a new curiosity. Nothing looked familiar here. He was in a city, but it was obviously not Mission Creek. Actually, judging by the stars overhead, he wasn't in California at all. A strange sense of loneliness filled him as he took in his surroundings. He knew that he was far from home. And, in some small part of his mind, he also knew that he couldn't go home. Not yet. He had a mission first.

 _Too bad I can't remember what that mission is._

A loud bang on the door behind him reminded Chase that he needed to get moving. He would have to worry about his current situation later. For now, the only thing that mattered was putting as much distance between himself and this warehouse as possible. His head was throbbing again and he could feel the bullet in his shoulder moving around too much, but he would have to deal with the pain. Stopping right now was simply not an option.

As he took off into the night, Chase couldn't help thinking again about those men who were chasing him. He'd easily recognized the emblems on their jackets back there. They were FBI agents. The FBI wanted him dead.

 _What have I done?_

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, I was re-watching the Bourne movies a few days ago and this idea suddenly popped into my head: What if one of the Lab Rats found themselves in a similar situation? Three days and a dozen rewrites later, this story is born! Don't worry, though, it might be inspired by the Bourne movies, but this story is** _ **very**_ **different from that one.**

 **If you have any thoughts/suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!**

 **Next chapter will be posted by Wednesday at the latest.**


	2. The Unlikely Ally

**A/N:** Wow, I'm really shocked (and obviously very happy, too!) with how much response I received from the first chapter. Thank you so much everyone! I was sick the day I posted it, so you guys really made my day. Also, you made me actually post this next chapter on time instead of putting it off for later. So, thanks again!

 **IMPORTANT NOTE:** Also, I wanted to warn everyone that I've been having some issues with the PM feature on my account lately, so if you're expecting a PM from me or sent one to me that you never received a reply to, that is probably why. I'm trying to remedy the problem by using a different device to send PMs through. Sorry about any confusion it may have caused.

 **Unknowndiva:** Aww, thank you so much! As someone who is _very_ insecure about my writing style, that means so much to me!  
 **Stardust16:** Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.  
 **BasketballQueen:** XD Can't give anything away yet, but it's probably not for the reasons you think. And thank you so much! Your reviews always make my day.  
 **Dirtkid123:** Thanks! Btw, love your new profile pic. It's so cool!  
 **tennisgirl77:** Thank you! Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a bit longer for the answers to those questions...  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Sorry, the mystery won't be solved quite yet. That would make things too boring. ;)  
 **Asori:** Wow, thanks! I'm really glad you like the story so far. I'm going to try to update on at least a somewhat regular schedule.  
 **girlface187:** Hi! Thank you so much for the review and the fav! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well.  
 **daphrose:** Stormtrooper aim. XD Thanks so much for the review! Lots more twists to the story coming up!

Thanks so much everyone for the support and encouragement. You help keep me motivated when life gets chaotic. Okay, enough holding everyone up. Here's chapter two...

* * *

 **Chapter 2: The Unlikely Ally**

 _I'm going to die._

He knew that, at this point, it was almost inevitable. Either the agents would overtake and shoot him, or he would run himself to death. Neither one sounded like a particularly pleasant way to end the night.

Chase kept one hand pressed tightly over his shoulder in a vain attempt to make it stop bleeding. His left hand dangled uselessly at his side. Even his head wound was pulsating with a never-ending pain. All of his injuries seemed to be competing to see which one could cause the most discomfort. And right now it was an even match. He knew he needed medical attention or he wouldn't last through the night. Too bad that wasn't really an option at the moment.

Turning a corner, he found himself in a narrow alley where the moonlight couldn't quite penetrate. The deep shadows would provide good cover for him. He charged down the alley as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, the darkness also hid obstacles in his path, including a rock that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. There wasn't enough time to catch his balance before he fell forward. It took all of his will power not to scream as his wounded shoulder hit the pavement first. Dark patches appeared in his vision and clouded in around his consciousness.

 _No, this can't happen now. I need to keep moving._

He was fast losing the fight to stay awake. His bionic hearing was picking up all kinds of noises, but his mind was too fuzzy to sort through them. There was someone standing over him. He didn't recognize their voice. There were more people coming, lots of people. They were entering the alley at top speed.

For a brief moment, his mind cleared and Chase found himself leaning against the alley wall with someone helping support his weight. He didn't know who the person was, but they were probably an enemy. He didn't have any friends right now, but he couldn't remember why. Chase tried to step away from the stranger and kicked out at him.

"Shh," the person hissed as quietly as possible. "They're coming. Stay still."

Although he wasn't sure why, Chase did as the person said. He could see now that the newcomer was a young boy who barely came up to his shoulder. The boy pulled him close against the wall again and then reached out his hand in front of them. Chase saw the air immediately around them glow a weird color and then the outside world went blurry. He realized that the boy was somehow projecting a force field that made the two of them invisible to outside eyes.

The FBI agents ran through just then. They must have been the other footsteps Chase had heard. The agents were all wearing night-vision goggles and they had their rifles held at the ready. They defintely meant business.

With the invisible shield protecting them, the agents never saw them. As soon as the enemy was out of hearing distance (even for Chase), the boy lowered the force field and reached over to help ease Chase onto a crate.

"Thanks," Chase whispered. He hoped he didn't just get someone else in trouble with the FBI. This situation was difficult enough without having to deal with the guilt of what might happen to this boy.

The world was turning lop-sided again and Chase felt himself hovering somewhere between consciousness and sleep. The boy was asking him something, but he didn't hear what it was. It didn't matter. He needed to lie down. He could feel the boy helping him into a nearby doorway, but his senses were dulled enough at this point that he barely registered the change of location. A moment later, he was being gently placed on the wood floor. He didn't care how hard the surface was. After all he'd been through, Chase only wanted one thing: sleep. The boy was talking again, but he'd long since given up listening. He let himself slide the rest of the way into the welcoming darkness.

* * *

 _He is running. There are sounds of fighting all around. People are getting hurt. His family is getting hurt. This needs to stop._

 _There's an alley and he runs down it. He can hear the men chasing him. If only he can reach the end of this alley, everything will be okay. Suddenly, it isn't an alley anymore. It's a hallway. He emerges into a darkened living room that feels eerily familiar. This is_ his _living room. He needs to get out of here. Why is it so dark?_

 _The room isn't empty. There are people everywhere. He sees his family on the other side of the room. They are fighting, too. He needs to help them, but he can't. There is something he must do first. What is it?_

 _There's the front door. He runs toward it. If he can get out of here, everything will be okay. He can stop this, but not from here. He reaches for the doorknob when a dark figure steps in front of him. He recognizes the figure right away. It's Adam. So why does he feel so scared of him? This is his brother._

 _No, this is the enemy._

 _He doesn't know why, but he knows it is true. He must take down the enemy and escape. He activates his laser bow and approaches cautiously._

 _His brother - no, his enemy - grins down at him and activates his laser vision. With a few quick moves, he uses his laser bow to deflect the deadly blasts. Then he charges forward._

 _This is the enemy._

 _He suddenly has a gun in his hand. He points it straight at the enemy. He pulls the trigger._

* * *

Chase awoke with a start. His pulse was moving at an alarmingly rapid pace and he could feel his heart beating wildly. He quickly looked around the room and relaxed when he saw that there were no immediate threats. His dream must have been what spooked him. He wished he could remember what the dream had been about.

Sitting up slowly, he decided to take a more casual sweep of the room. It wasn't a very big room and there were no windows. The skylight above was too dusty to admit any light. The walls and floor were all made of rotting wood and the only door was a metal sheet tied across a large hole in the wall. In the center of the room was a metal bucket with a small fire burning inside. A boy was bent over the bucket, using the flame to cook a can of ravioli. Chase recognized him as the boy from the alley.

"Oh, hey," the boy said, glancing up at him. "I didn't realize you were awake. You were out of it for a while there. I thought you were going to die on me; which, you know, wouldn't have been very nice after I took the trouble to save you."

The straightforward way in which the boy spoke made it obvious that he wasn't joking. Chase rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, I decided not to die just so you wouldn't be offended."

The boy tilted his head curiously and stared for a moment. Finally, he shrugged and turned back to his cooking. "Are you hungry?"

"Not especially." Actually, he felt rather nauseous. He wondered if the sick feeling came from his head wound or his shoulder. Maybe a little of both. "I don't suppose you have any Aspirin on hand, do you?"

The boy set down the can of food and walked over. Crouching down in front of Chase, he said, "No, sorry. It was all I could do to find these bandages. Let me check your hand. It probably needs some more ointment. That is a nasty burn on there."

Chase looked down and noticed for the first time that his left hand was wrapped in gauze. There was also a large amount of the material pressed against his shoulder with medical tape. "Did you do that?" he asked.

"Yes. You stayed unconscious long enough for me to remove the bullet and apply some bandages. Unfortunately, the cut on your head is in a place that made it too hard to cover. I cleaned it out, though, and I believe it should be okay. Let me see your hand now."

Chase leaned back against a cardboard box and let the boy work on his hand. Up close, he could tell that the youth was hardly more than eleven or twelve years old. Yet he spoke in such a matter-of-fact way that didn't really fit with his age. He was short for his age and on the thin side with sandy-blond hair and large brown eyes. His hair was cut rather short and was somewhere between messy and spiky. The boy was wearing only a tee shirt and jeans despite the cold air blowing in from outside.

"You used some sort of invisibility shield in that alley," Chase said. "Are you a bionic person?"

The boy looked up with a blank expression. "I am an android." He noted Chase's surprise and said, "You don't like androids."

"I haven't had any good experiences with them."

"Neither have I," the boy said. He pulled out a small bottle containing some kind of pasty substance and began applying it to the burned skin on Chase's hand. "You are bionic?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't know there were any bionic people left."

Chase looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?" he asked. "What happened to the academy? Where are the other bionic people?"

"Gone," the boy said with a frown. "I don't know where. You don't remember?"

"I can't remember anything recent," Chase admitted. "Nothing from the last few days. What happened?"

"According to the news, quite a bit. But I'm not the one you should ask. My last few days have been a bit..." he paused as if searching for the right word. " _Cluttered._ I'm not sure what caused everything to happen, but this city has seen the worst of the effects. Are you the one they are searching for all over the place?"

"I guess. What city are we in?"

"Washington, D.C. They are using helicopters to aid the search."

 _What have I done? Why do they want me?_

Chase could tell the boy wasn't being completely open with him, but he was also fairly certain that this wasn't an enemy. He decided to trust him, for now. "What's your name?"

"39-DELTA-451AX7G," the boy responded. He began wrapping a new sheet of gauze around the injured hand.

"That's not really a name," Chase told him. "Why don't I call you Andy? You know, short for android."

"That is okay with me. And your name?"

"Chase."

Andy finished wrapping the hand and secured the piece of gauze with a few strips of medical tape. "Nice to make your acquaintence, Chase. May I ask what your plans are for the immediate future?"

Chase couldn't help smiling. There was something oddly robotic in Andy's manner of speech. He was used to androids sounding and acting exactly like humans. "I'm not sure, actually. With this amnesia, I can't remember anything about all of this. I don't know why those people are chasing me or why I'm in Washington, D.C. The only thing I can remember is that I was doing something really important before I woke up in that warehouse. Whatever it is, I need to finish it."

"That would be rather difficult," Andy pointed out, "considering that you don't know what you are supposed to do."

"I know. That's the really annoying thing. I wish I could remember details, but instead I only have these vague _ideas_ floating around in my brain. I think my family is in trouble, though."

"Maybe you're supposed to go save them."

Chase shook his head. "No, it was something in this city I was supposed to do. I think it has to do with the president."

"The president is dead."

Chase felt like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on him. " _What?!_ "

"The president is dead," Andy repeated. "He was shot yesterday morning on the lawn in front of the capitol building. There was a large crowd of reporters present during the shooting because the president had been about to make an announcement. No one knows what he was going to say, though. The shooter and his accomplice got away."

He felt dizzy. His vision was starting to blur as a brief memory flooded into his head and crowded out everything else.

 _There is a large lawn. A huge crowd of people are there. They're all shouting and scared. He is shouting something back at them. A warning? The president is standing up front. He looks scared, too. Something isn't right about this. Something is missing. What is it?_

"Chase!" a concerned shout brings him back to the present. "Are you okay?"

Chase took a deep breath and brought his heartbeat back to a normal speed. He looked at Andy with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. You just reminded me of something."

"Okay," Andy said. Chase couldn't tell if the boy believed him or not. "I'm going to check the outside perimeter to make sure we are clear. The sun will be coming up soon."

As soon as the android was gone, Chase leaned back against the box and let all of his concerns flood to the surface. Andy's words had merely reminded him of something he already knew. He knew about the shooting because he'd been there. And, for some reason, the memory of the shooting brought an uncontrollable fear to his heart.

 _What have I done?_

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, in case you couldn't guess, Andy is the OC I warned about in the beginning of this story. But, as stated, you definitely won't have to worry about an OCxCharacter sort of plot because I do NOT write romances. Sorry, I just really stink at that sort of thing. Besides, Andy is an android. (Yeah, I don't ship Marcus/Bree either. Sorry.)

Anyway, I hope you still enjoyed the chapter. Thank you so much for reading!

 **NEXT CHAPTER** : _"Cover of Darkness" - Chase begins looking for answers..._  
I'll be posting it either late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Depends on how late I get back from my trip.


	3. Cover of Darkness

**A/N:** Yay, I'm actually sticking to my deadlines so far! So here is the next chapter as promised. Thank you guys so much for actually reading my stuff and being so kind in your reviews!

 **Stardust16:** Thank you! You are always so thoughtful in your reviews. Btw, I read chapter two of Bionic Behind Bars and it was awesome!  
 **Dirtkid123:** I kept my promise and updated on time. Thank you so much for the review!  
 **daphrose:** Aww, thanks! And you're right, there is much more to Andy than meets the eye...  
 **BasketballQueen:** XD Okay, you officially win the prize for Reviewer of the Year. Thank you so much for making me laugh so hard! And a thank you to your new friend as well. Welcome to fanfiction, Katrine. ;)  
 **girlface187:** Glad you're enjoying it so much. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well. Thank you!  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Thanks! And things will be explained slowly throughout the story. There's a good reason for everything that is happening, it just won't be revealed quite yet.  
 **Asori:** Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked Andy; I was nervous how he'd come across.  
 **ADayWithNoLaughterIsADayWasted:** Hi! Thank you for reading my story and for leaving a review. It is really appreciated!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Cover of Darkness**

Chase fell back to sleep a few minutes later and didn't wake back up until Andy returned later on carrying a backpack full of supplies. He sat down on the floor in front of Chase and proudly displayed his findings. As it turned out, the kid was rather adept at foraging. The bag contained several dinner rolls, three bottles of water, a tourists' map of D.C., some miscellaneous bandages, and a sweatshirt and pair of jeans. These last two items were for Chase, whose clothes were looking rather battered after everything he'd been through. He changed into the new clothes and discarded the old ones in a nearby trash bin. This was the first time he noticed that he'd previously only been wearing casual pants and a tee-shirt.

 _So I wasn't on an official mission when all of this started. That still doesn't help me a lot._

The sweatshirt felt good against the cool air blowing into their hideout. Chase was used to the warm California climate and, even though it was only autumn, D.C. felt unusually chilly to him. He moved closer to the fire while eating one of the dinner rolls. He noticed that Andy wasn't eating anything and made a comment about it.

"Androids do not require the same forms of sustenance that humans do," Andy stated. "They are not- _we_ are not programmed to function that way."

Chase looked at him curiously. "You don't like androids, do you?"

"To dislike what I am doesn't seem rational," Andy said slowly. His small face scrunched into a puzzled frown. "Yet I can't supress the feeling that I'd rather not be an android. You humans do not realize how fortunate you are to be sentient beings. That is not a gift to be taken so lightly. When I escaped from my inventor, I already knew quite a bit about humans. I decided to learn as much as I can about your species. That is why I came to this city. It is, after all, your capital city."

"So you're here to do a field study on humans?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Well, I hope you're not too disappointed with what you find out about us," Chase said. Leaning back against a box, he unfolded the map in front of him. He had Andy point out their current location and then consulted the map key to figure out a good route. He needed to make good time while staying off the main roads whenever possible. After plotting out a course to follow, Chase scanned the map onto his bionic chip so he could consult it when needed. He decided that, for now, it would be safest to disable any satellite connections. That would make it too easy for someone to track his whereabouts.

Andy watched him fold up the map before speaking. "You are leaving."

Chase nodded.

"Soon?"

"As soon as it gets dark."

"I would not recommend such a course of action given your current medical state," Andy said.

"Well, I don't exactly have much of a choice," Chase told him. "There are a lot of people after me and I don't even know _why_. Keeping one step ahead of my enemies - uh, pursuers - might at least give me a small advantage. Also, I'm hoping that revisiting some key places may trigger my memories. I need to figure out what's going on here and how I got mixed up in all of this."

"That makes sense," Andy said. "We depart at dusk?"

"Wait, hold on a minute," Chase said. "Who says you're coming along?"

"I wish to study humans. You are a human."

"Can't really argue with that, but-"

"And you may require further medical assistance," Andy pointed out quickly. "I am rather knowledgable in human first aid. That could be of use in your journey."

Technically, Chase also knew quite a bit about first aid, but he also knew it would be difficult to tend to his own injuries in the field - especially if he should suddenly lose consciousness on the side of a road somewhere. He didn't fully trust Andy yet, either, so keeping the mysterious little android under close watch might be a good idea; Chase had a strong feeling that there was something Andy was keeping secret. And, he hated to admit, it would be nice to have some company. Between his concern for his family and missing his siblings, he wasn't really in the mood to be alone. He didn't realize just how much he could miss Adam's dumb jokes and Bree's constant complaints. If only there was some way of knowing that they were all right.

 _They will be, if I complete this mission. I can stop this, but not from there._

He wasn't exactly sure where that stray thought came from, but it brought him a small amount of comfort. Yes, he would complete this mission and protect his family. And maybe along the way he would find some of the missing pieces.

"Okay, fine," Chase said at last. "You can come along. Just try not to get in the way too much, okay? And, remember, _I'm_ leading this expedition."

"Certainly. When do we depart?"

"In about an hour." Chase glanced down at his watch and noticed for the first time that the screen was smashed in. Apparently, during all the fighting he'd been through, he'd also destroyed his new watch. Undoing the velro strap, he pulled it off and was about to throw it in the dumpster when Andy protested.

"You do not desire that anymore?"

"It's broken." Chase held it up for the android to look at. "I must have smashed the screen somehow."

Andy walked over and gently took the device in his hand. Tilting back his head, he looked up at Chase with a hopeful expression. "May I keep it?"

"It's broken," Chase repeated.

"It does not matter," Andy said. "Androids can keep track of time internally."

"Then why would you want it at all?!"

Andy strapped on the watch and took a step backwards. "It is what humans wear." With that, he walked back over to the doorway and sat down to keep guard.

With a slight smile of amusement, Chase settled back down on the floor and stretched out to take a nap. Now that his injuries had been properly dealt with, he didn't feel nearly as weak as before, but he was still a long way from being in top shape. Besides, he wanted to get as much sleep as possible before they left. He had no intention of sleeping tonight. Nighttime was the safest way for them to travel and Chase intended to use every second of the protective darkness. He needed answers, and he was going to get them.

The heat of the fire and the comfort of his fresh sweatshirt combined into a soothing warmth that soon had Chase drifting back to sleep. As the last bits of conscious thought left him, he could feel himself sinking into a confusing mix of dreams and memories.

* * *

The moon was being rather cooperative that night. It was staying mostly out of sight behind the thick cloud coverage, casting an eery darkness into the city streets below. Two figures took advantage of this lack of illumination and hurried through one alley after another. Their zig-zag pattern carried them in a particularly roundabout route, but they eventually arrived at their intended destination.

Standing on the roof of a nearby building, Chase first scanned the area for hostile forces before settling his gaze on the capitol building. He didn't like how well-lit this particular area was; there were too many lights that could help reveal their presence. Unfortunately, that couldn't be helped at the moment. With any luck they'd only have to be here a few minutes anyway. His attention shifted to the lawn in front of the massive building.

It all felt too familiar. Brief memories kept flashing through his brain, fighting to be let out. It aggravated the pain in his head to try sorting them out, so he instead relaxed his mind and let all the thoughts flow through at their own pace.

 _He can see the capitol building. There are important dignataries on the building's front steps. He's on the steps, too. No, he's on the lawn. There are people everywhere. They're scared. They're screaming. He has to move. Now. He's running through the crowd. He has a mission to complete. He can see the president on the steps now, shaking hands with the other dignataries. There is something wrong. Something missing..._

Just like that, the memories evaporated into thin air. Chase groaned in frustration and anger. He was the smartest person alive, but he couldn't remember something as important as this. He slammed his good fist into the building's roof and turned away from the view of the capitol. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down.

 _Okay, I can still do this. I just need to find something else that will spark a memory._

"Chase," Andy said. "Not to cause undue alarm, but I hear a helicopter approaching."

Chase nodded. His bionic hearing had already picked up the sound a few minutes ago. "We'll have to get away from all these lights before they get close enough to see us." He glanced down at the android. "I don't suppose you could geoleap us somewhere safer?"

A momentary expression of fear passed over Andy's face before it settled back into that blank composure. "I cannot geoleap," he stated.

"You can't _what_?"

Andy let out a sigh. "I cannot geoleap," he repeated. "More accurately, I cannot geoleap without undesirable, and potentially frightening, consequences. If you wish to maintain your current molecular construction, then I recommend against an attempted geoleap. Do you have an alternate plan?"

"Give me a minute." Chase visually scanned the area around them and compared it to the map he had stored on his bionic chip. He wanted a route of escape that would keep them out of sight as long as possible. Right now, avoiding another fight with the FBI would probably be ideal. Locating a side street that looked promising, Chase motioned to Andy and ran for the edge of the roof. Aided by his molecular kinesis, he quickly scaled down the building's side and landed as quietly as possible on the pavement below. The climb put too much of a strain on his shoulder, but he'd have to worry about that later.

"Which direction?" Andy asked.

"This way," Chase whispered back.

They hurried through some shrubbery and emerged in the street beyond. Keeping to the shadows as much as possible, Chase led them from one street to the next. Ducking through alleys, behind garages, and even into a few drainage pipes, they gradually worked their way farther and farther from the capitol area. It wasn't long before the two found themselves once again in a run-down district of the city. At least they knew they were relatively safe from being spotted in this area; it was unlikely any of these people would call the police even if they _did_ recognize them as fugitives. By the time they stopped to rest beside an old paint factory, even Andy looked a bit winded.

"How is your shoulder feeling?" he asked.

Chase tried to shrug away the question, but the movement sent a wave of pain piercing through the wound. Grimacing, he admitted, "Not good."

"You should not be so active this soon," Andy said.

"Can't be helped. We have to keep moving if we don't want them to catch us."

"What is our next plan?"

"We need to get back to Mission Creek," Chase said. He'd been giving it a lot of thought during their retreat from the capitol, and he finally decided it was the best option. "Maybe we can find my family and figure out what's been happening here. They'll at least be able to tell us where all the bionic people are."

Andy nodded. "I did a scan for bionic activity a few hours ago and only picked up your own chip. If your friends are out there, they are no longer transmitting bionic signals."

"Come on," Chase said, standing up slowly. "We'd better get moving."

The android jumped to his feet and looked out at the darkened city around them. He drew in a deep breath of the night air and turned to Chase with an excited gleam in his eye. "Which direction?"

Chase pointed to the west. "Towards home."

* * *

 **A/N:** If you notice something a bit "off" about Chase, there's a good reason for that. It will be explored a bit more within the next few chapters.

 **NEXT CHAPTER** : _"Trouble"_ \- _The two fugitives attempt to escape D.C._  
I'm hoping to post by Thursday or Friday, but most likely it will be on Friday.


	4. Trouble

**A/N: Barely got this one out on time, but here it is. Sorry for the slight delay, but I needed to go back and make a few changes that will become important later on. For everyone asking for answers, things will start to be explained soon; there will just be a few more chapters before the reasons for everything will start to be revealed. Thanks so much for reading and for your patience!**

 **ADayWithNoLaughterIsADayWasted:** Aww, thanks! (P.S. Your profile pic includes one of my favorite quotes!)  
 **Girlface187:** Thank you! And I honestly did post this as soon as I could. Life just sometimes gets in the way... :( Anyway, glad you're enjoying the story and thanks!  
 **Dirtkid123:** Thanks so much! And I promise the answers will be coming in just a few more chapters.  
 **BluePeach007:** Oh, wow, thank you! That means so much to me!  
 **Stardust16:** I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Yeah, more will be revealed about Andy soon. Thank you!  
 **Asori:** Thank you for pointing out that mistake. I went back and changed the sentence so it works now. I really appreciate the input and any future help you can give.  
 **BasketballQueen:** Uh oh, I think you completely freaked out Leo there. ;) And thank you! I'm glad Andy isn't annoying; I always fear writing OCs because they are so often hated. And don't worry, answers will be coming... eventually. }:) Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (ik, a few days late, but it's the thought that counts, right?)  
 **Girlbird3:** Thank you! A lot of explanations will be coming up soon; just a couple more chapters to go before things will start to be revealed.  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Thank you so much! I was so nervous about including an OC, so I'm _very_ relieved that no one seems to hate him... at least not yet. Thanks again!

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Trouble**

As the two boys walked quickly through the crowds of fellow pedestrians, Chase managed to keep his head down without drawing too much attention to himself. They couldn't run the risk of someone recognizing him; according to Andy, his picture was on last night's news. Right now, though, Chase was more focused on shutting out the overwhelming sounds of the city around them. The car engines, building-size air conditioner units, garbage trucks, construction sites, people walking by, people talking on cell phones - it was all pounding through his skull like a massive migraine. Later he would have to run a diagnostic check on his bionic system to find out why it was so much more sensitive than usual, but only after he could be sure they were safe from the FBI.

Neither of them had sighted any agents yet, but walking in broad daylight like this wasn't helping them feel confident about their situation. Andy kept a close eye out for possible tails since he would look less suspicious doing so. At his age and size, he would easily be mistaken for a curious young child.

Chase took them down yet another alley and came out in the parking lot of a large brick building. A major cross-street passed in front of them and the two quickly began walking parallel to it.

"Um, not to appear doubtful of your leadership skills," Andy said, glancing over his shoulder, "but I was under the impression that Union Station is _that_ direction." He pointed off to the left where they could see a massive white building rising up on the other side of the street.

"It is," Chase said, not deviating from their current route. "But we're heading the opposite direction for a good reason. There is no chance of us walking into that station, buying a ticket, and boarding a train without every agent in the area coming down on us. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"So we'll head farther up the tracks and hop on a freight train at the loading yard."

Andy paused to consider this for a moment. "We will not be paying for our train ride?"

Chase rolled his eyes. "Really? My dad's a billionaire; we can send them the money later. For now, it's a bit more important that we _stay out of a maximum security prison_. Okay?"

"Okay."

They reached a place where the street began rising into the air to safely pass over the train tracks below. It was here that Chase quickly veered to the right, turning the corner onto a quiet little avenue with barely a car to be seen. This street traveled alongside the tracks for a distance and they followed it straight to the loading yard where cars could be transferred from one train to another.

Train tracks criss-crossed each other in dizzying patterns while multiple trains worked on picking up extra cars and dropping off empty ones. Chase and Andy hurried to the far end of the train yard and chose a hiding place only a few dozen yards from the track that traveled southeast out of the train yard. It wasn't the most direct route out of the city, so it was the one least likely to be watched by the FBI. Andy put on their backpack of supplies and used his invisibility shield to cloak them as they waited patiently for the next train to head out.

It was less than an hour before a freight train hauling a long trail of boxcars began pulling out of the train yard. Andy dropped the cloaking shield and they readied themselves for their next maneuver. After enough cars had passed, they decided it was far enough back to avoid being seen by the engineers. Chase scanned the cars until he found one that was only half-filled with crates. He used his molecular kinesis to open the door before Andy super-speeded them into the boxcar. They slid the door shut as quickly as possible and collapsed on the floor in relief.

"We are safe?" Andy asked.

"I think so," Chase said. "At least for now."

Neither of them had seen the lone figure perched on a rooftop half a block away. The man now lowered his binoculars and pulled out a radio. "Nova Base, this is Thrush," he called into the radio unit. "I've sighted the targets. Repeat, I've sighted the targets."

* * *

The train clattered noisily along the tracks, but the monotony of the sound made it almost soothing. The two fugitives settled down onto some blankets they'd found in one of the crates. If everything went well, they should have plenty of time for rest before reaching Chicago.

Andy was only quiet for a few minutes before he couldn't help asking questions again. One thing that Chase noticed early on about his young companion was that he was always curious about everything. "Would you mind if I make a few inquiries?"

"Shoot."

The android stared at him blankly. "I am sorry. I do not understand the request."

"It's an expression," Chase told him. "It means 'go ahead'. Humans use expressions quite a bit, so you might want to learn a few."

"Duly noted," Andy said. "You know a lot about the human world."

"Well, I am the smartest person alive," Chase couldn't resist saying. "But, actually, I only started experiencing the 'human world' firsthand a few years ago. Before that, I had almost no human contact."

"But you have a family? You have parents?"

"Not the kind you're thinking of. We have a _very_ complicated family. My siblings and I were genetically engineered, so we don't actually have real parents. But bionic people use the terms 'father' and 'mother' to refer to the person who created them. Our creator is actually the guy who first invented bionic humans."

"So he is your father?" Andy asked.

"Not quite," Chase said. "He built us, but he wasn't the person who raised us. When we were still very young, his brother found us and took us away. He raised us in his lab until we were teenagers. Even though he isn't the person who built us, he is responsible for making us what we are. So he's the man we really think of as a father. And his wife and step-son are like family members to us as well, even though they aren't bionic. Well, our step-brother is sort of bionic now, but it's not quite the same."

"You are right," Andy stated. "You have a _very_ complicated family."

Chase laughed. "Why are you so curious about humans, anyway? You weren't programmed for human study were you?"

"No, but I'm not a typical android, either," Andy said. "I am the prototype for a new android software. My programming is not unlike that of an AI. I was designed to evolve, change, become something else. Essentially, I was programmed to one day achieve the ability to deviate from my programming. That is why I must learn everything I can about, well, _everything_. And humans fascinate me because, of all the species on Earth, they exhibit the purest form of spontaneity. There is no programming guiding their actions; their choices are based upon their ability to evaluate and make decisions. Humans already possess the level of being that I hope to one day attain."

The inventor side of Chase was becoming extremely excited at what Andy was saying. This one little android held the sort of programming that science had been trying to create for decades. If Mr. Davenport were here right now, he'd be going completely ecstatic - Chase couldn't help feeling a little loneliness at that thought. "So, since your programming is able to adapt as you learn new information, you want to make yourself more like humans?"

"That is assuming that I have emotions in that area. As an android, I cannot _wish_ for something the way you humans do."

"But as an evolving AI you can develop emotions, or at least learn what they feel like," Chase pointed out.

Andy looked slightly disconcerted by Chase's inquiry. He attempted to divert the conversation with a new question, "I cannot help being curious about you. Would you mind explaining something to me?"

Chase pretended not to notice the abrupt change of topic. "Sure," he said. "What is it?"

"Actually, I'm curious about your choice of name for me. You mentioned that it is an abbreviated form of the word _android_ , but this method of selecting a name does not seem to align with your overall personality."

"Are you trying to say that it sounds a bit too simple?" Chase guessed. When the android nodded, he said, "Yeah, it probably is. Actually, I picked that name because it sounded like something my brother, Adam, would have done if he were here."

Andy nodded thoughtfully. "You miss your brother."

"No," Chase said quickly. "I'm just worried about them. They might be in trouble." After noticing Andy's skeptical expression, he admitted, "Okay, maybe I miss my family a _little_ bit. I'm used to working with them on missions. And Adam might be not be very bright - okay, that's a _major_ understatement - but he's still my brother, and..." Chase's voice trailed off as a brief memory flashed into his mind. It wasn't a clear memory, just vague images, but he tried to focus on the images and make them become coherent.

 _He is standing on a wide street in an unfamiliar place. Adam is there. Lots of people are there. Everyone is scared._

The memories threatened to retreat once more into the corners of his brain and Chase struggled to make them stay. He closed his eyes and tried to shut out all outside sounds.

 _He is on a rooftop at night. Adam is at the edge of the roof, looking angry and frightened. Suddenly, Adam is falling backwards off the roof. He runs forward and looks over the edge. Adam is lying still on the concrete far below. He looks down at his hand. There are fresh burn marks on it._

Chase opened his eyes to see Andy staring at him with a concerned expression. He took a deep breath and then faked a smile. "It's okay," he said. "I just thought I remembered something." He hid his hands behind his back to keep Andy from seeing how much they were shaking. "I guess talking about my brother started to bring something back to me."

"Is your memory starting to come back?" Andy asked hopefully.

"Not yet. I guess it'll take more time."

Sensing some hesitancy in the bionic's voice, Andy didn't press the issue. "Would it be alright if I recharge now? My power source feels rather low."

"Sure," Chase said. "I think I'll try to sleep for awhile, too. We won't have much time for rest after we reach Chicago."

Andy nodded. Taking off his backpack and settling down into a cross-legged position, he put his system on temporary shut down to regenerate power. Chase noticed that Andy seemed to tense up a little just as his systems commenced shut down mode. He wondered briefly why the process would upset the android, but he didn't dwell on the thought for long. He needed sleep.

With a yawn, he curled up in his blanket and let his eyes fall shut for the first time in too many hours. "Good night, Andy," he called sleepily to his traveling companion. Andy didn't respond; he was already turned off. It probably didn't matter anyway. Chase was sound asleep a moment later.

* * *

 _He is on a wide city street. People are fleeing in terror, trying to escape. He is running the opposite direction - towards the danger. He pauses on the edge of the crowd as he sees Adam. His brother is running out of a collapsing building. He looks up to see part of the roof sliding off and hurtling towards the sidewalk below._

 _"Look out!" he yells. But he's not warning his brother; he's calling to the other people._

 _He projects his force field over a family that is standing too close to the building. As soon as the avalanche of rubble has cleared, he releases his force field and shouts to the family, "Get out of here quickly! Run!"_

 _He doesn't pause to make sure they've listened. He needs to hurry. Turning around, he sees Adam climbing out from under the fallen debris. Adam is now walking towards him._

 _The dream shifts. It's melting into something else._

 _He's now on a rooftop. It's nighttime. Adam is standing several yards in front of him._

 _"Just give up," Adam shouts to him._

 _"Not until I finish this," he calls back angrily. He activates his laser-bow and it immediately appears in his left hand. He attacks hard and fast; his opponent has to concentrate on avoiding the blows and has no time for a counterattack. He is steadily gaining the upper hand._

 _Adam suddenly leaps backward several feet, landing right beside the roof's drop-off, and his eyes glow red. The laser beams shoot forward too quickly to react in time. He feels a searing hot pain in his hand and he immediately drops his weapon; the laser-bow disintegrates as soon as it leaves his grip. His entire hand feels like it is on fire. Adam laughs, and now_ everything _feels like it is on fire. He forms an energy sphere in his right hand and throws it._

 _Adam is unprepared for the blow and it hits him directly in the chest. Knocked off balance, there is no chance of Adam catching his balance in time. Just as he is about to fall off the edge, Adam looks over with an angry glare. "It doesn't matter," Adam shouts. "You're dead now anyway." And then his brother is gone._

 _He races forward and stops at the edge to look down. Adam is lying on the concrete several stories below._

 _His hand is causing him an indescribable agony. He looks down at it and sees where the skin has been completely burned off by Adam's laser vision. The deep burn marks form a strange pattern and his fingers feel strangely dead. This is just the beginning. He knows it. There are others that need to be taken down. He has a mission to carry out._

 _A roaring sound overhead marks the entrance of the helicopters. Their searchlights are shining down all over the rooftop. He turns and starts running. He reaches the opposite edge just as the first gunshots ring out. He has no choice now. He jumps._

 _The ground rushes up at a dizzying speed. He is falling towards a warehouse roof several stories below. The skylight shatters on impact and the glass cuts into him like a hundred different knives. A concrete floor is less than twenty feet away. Using his molecular kinesis at the last second, he manages to keep himself from hitting the ground too hard. But he isn't fast enough to change his body position before his head hits the floor. Everything blurs and then goes black. As his consciousness slips away, he can still hear the helicopters overhead..._

* * *

Even before his eyes flew open, Chase could tell that something was wrong. The train wasn't moving. His super-senses were telling him that there were several men approaching the boxcar, and his instincts told him that they were not friendly forces. As he sat up, he also realized that there was a loud roaring sound outside, like a powerful wind. Apparently, the helicopters weren't only in his dreams after all. Chase put his hands down to push himself to his feet, and immediately fell down in pain. The noise wasn't the only thing that had carried over from his dream world. He'd been accidentally sleeping on his left arm and the weight had aggravated the injuries on both his hand and shoulder.

"Andy," he called, trying to rouse the android.

The door of the boxcar flew open and a flood of sunlight poured in. Chase leapt to his feet, ready for a fight, only to have a huge man barrel into him. They fell back against the pile of crates with Chase taking the full impact. The man swung his rifle around and slammed the stock into Chase's side. Several more men charged inside and one of them pointed a strange looking weapon at Andy.

Gasping painfully, Chase shoved his attacker to the side and charged at the man holding the weapon. Another of the men rushed forward and kicked him in the ribs with his booted foot. Chase's entire side felt like it suddenly caved in, but he chose to ignore it for now. Reaching out, he used his magnetism app to grab the weapon out of the man's hand and hurl it across the car. Someone else tried to come up behind him but he heard their approach and ducked just in time to avoid a fist. Spinning around, he grabbed the man in a judo hold and threw him to the ground. The guy had barely hit the floor before he swung his arm around and punched Chase hard in the shoulder.

Black dots swirled in his vision as he reeled backward from the burst of pain. Whether it was intentional or not, the guy had managed to hit Chase in his wounded left shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder and fell down into a crouched position. The man who appeared to be the leader stepped forward and placed a gun against Chase's forehead while his other men pointed their own weapons at the still-inactive Andy.

"Don't move," the leader said. "Or we will shoot you both right now."

* * *

 **A/N: For anyone who noticed the** _ **Man From U.N.C.L.E.**_ **reference, yes that was intentional. There are also several** _ **Bourne**_ **and** _ **Mission: Impossible**_ **references throughout this story. Can't do an espionage-style fic without including a few nods to the great spy fandoms.**

 **As stated, answers** _ **will**_ **be coming soon. These next few chapters are important, though, so I can't skip them to jump ahead to the solution. All I can say for now is that you probably shouldn't leap to any conclusions; there is a lot more going on than Chase can even begin to guess.**

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER:**_ _"A New Enemy" - Chase may be in a lot more trouble than he thought..._


	5. A New Enemy

**A/N: HAPPY "BACK TO THE FUTURE" DAY EVERYONE!**

 **To celebrate what I hope is the end of my writer's block, I am posting this chapter earlier than I'd originally planned. This one is a bit shorter, but a few important things will be revealed (although you might not realize most of them until later on). So, once again, thank you everyone who is reading/following this and I** _ **really**_ **appreciate the support!**

 **Dirtkid123:** Sorry, can't answer that _quite_ yet. Soon though, I promise. Thank you so much for your continued support and thoughtful reviews!  
 **Stardust16:** Okay, I will be answering part of your questions in this chapter, just not all of them quite yet. I'm so glad you like Andy. And I really appreciate your reviews. They help me figure out what works/doesn't work so I can improve my writing. Thank you so much!  
 **Asori:** Aww, thanks! Yeah, hard to tell right now isn't it? More answers will be coming soon though, as promised. Thank you again!  
 **Sarcasmisinmyblood:** Oh my, thank you SO MUCH! It means a lot and I'm really glad you're enjoying it.  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Thanks! I'm glad the flashback scenes worked, I wasn't sure about how they sounded, so that means a lot. Thank you!  
 **daphrose:** Oh, wow, thank you! That made me so happy! I was really nervous about including an OC, so that makes me feel _very_ relieved.  
 **BasketballQueen:** XD Thanks so much! Wow, poor Leo! And I'm glad to hear that you felt at least a little payback for all those times you left us on cliffhangers. ;) Glad Chase approves; I'm assuming he'd point it out if I was too inaccurate in my portrayal of androids, so that's a relief! Now to keep you in suspense just a little bit longer...

* * *

 _"Failure is not falling down. Failure is refusing to stand back up."_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: A New Enemy**

One of the men moved forward and fastened a metal ring to Chase's wrist before shoving him onto a nearby crate. Chase immediately felt his systems go offline and knew that the device was some sort of bionic signal interrupter. The man then walked over and attached one to Andy's wrist as well.

 _So, they know about Andy's abilities, too. The question is, though, who exactly are "they"?_

Chase knew these weren't FBI agents. They looked more like the kind of black ops unit you'd see in a spy movie. All four of the men were dressed in black with assault rifles, holstered sidearms, radios, and an array of other devices and strange-looking weapons attached to their belts. The leader pulled out a satphone and dialed a number on it. He stepped outside the car to talk, but Chase could still hear the conversation fairly well. Unfortunately, without the aid of his bionic hearing, he could only hear one side of the conversation.

"Nova Base, this is Typhon. We have captured the target," the man said into the phone. "He was escaping DC by train. There is a complication, though. He was traveling with another kid, and we have reason to believe that the other kid is bionic as well." There was a brief pause as he listened to whatever orders were being told him. "I understand, sir. We'll report back as soon as it's done."

There was a beeping sound as the man hung up the phone. Chase heard him walk over to the helicopter and say something to the pilot; the next sound he heard was the chopper taking off and flying away. A moment later, the man was walking back through the boxcar door.

"Alright," he said, standing in front of Chase, "tell me where you hid it and this will all be over. You've got exactly one minute to talk."

Chase's mind was racing to figure out what these men were after. Did he steal something from them?

 _Yes, and they want it enough to kill for it. They can't have it, though. My family needs me to keep it safe. This is the mission I need to complete._

Chase looked up at the group leader and shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The man glared at him. "Wrong answer," he said grimly. He reached down and grabbed Chase's arm, pulling him off the crate and onto the floor. Twisting his arm around so it was behind his back at a bad angle, the man said again, "Tell me where you hid it."

Under normal circumstances, Chase wouldn't have hesitated to fight back and take this jerk down. But with his bionics offline, his ribs feeling like they'd caved in on him, and his entire left arm completely useless, there was no chance of taking out even one of the men before somebody shot him or Andy. The man twisted his arm farther around, and Chase had to bite his lip to keep from yelling with the sudden pain it caused. Mr. Davenport had taught them how to handle these sort of interrogations; he just needed to follow his training. Chase took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves and refocus his thoughts. He concentrated on the ache in his ribs instead so he wouldn't notice the pain in his arm as much.

"We know you were the one who took it," the man practically growled. "If you don't give me its location, I have orders to shoot you."

"Go ahead," Chase said. "You know as well as I do that you can't really kill me. If you do, you'll never get what you're after."

The man suddenly released his arm and Chase fell forward, relief flooding over him. He managed to sit up so he could try to rub some feeling back into his arm. At least it hadn't been his left one.

Without any warning, the man rushed up behind him and slid a metal bar across Chase's throat. Chase felt his airway closing up at the pressure the bar was placing on it. The man continued to choke him while saying, "Maybe. Or maybe we can just get the information from your family instead. That's entirely up to you."

He tried to fight back as best he could, but he simply didn't have enough energy. He could feel his lungs burning as he tried desparately to get some air into them. Kicking his leg back against the man's ankle, Chase tried to knock him off his feet, but it was a losing battle and he knew it. He could feel himself blacking out and realized that he might not wake back up. He reached up and grabbed the back of the man's neck. With one last burst of energy, he managed to pull down hard enough to flip the man forward and onto the floor. Air flooded into his system and Chase took a moment to breath it in before dodging another attacker. He was hopelessly outnumbered and in no condition to take out a group of angry captors, but Chase was also determined to not go down without a fight.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the men on the opposite side of the car pull out his pistol and aim it directly towards Chase. Out of reflex, he tried to activate his force field - and that was when he realized he was still wearing the inhibitor wristband.

Something small and thin suddenly crashed into the man's side and sent him tumbling to the ground. The pistol flew out the open door and disappeared from sight. Chase stared in surprise as he realized the new addition to the ruckus was none other than Andy.

The little android jumped onto his prey and punched him hard in the face. One more punch was enough to put the man temporarily out of commission. Leaping to his feet, he sighted the nearest enemy and charged him with an expression of dark anger. That man took a moment to get over his surprise at seeing the tiny attacker, but when he did recover he quickly pulled out a small device and fired it straight at Andy. The weapon emitted some kind of blast wave that sent Andy flying backwards into a pile of boxes. Whatever was inside the boxes had been packed in sawdust for protection and the air was immediately filled with a thick haze of the smelly dust.

Chase ran forward and kicked the group leader in the stomach, sending him back against a wall. The man recovered quickly and charged back at him with a series of karate moves. Chase countered his opponent's moves and then maneuvered around him to get in a few hits of his own. The man had obviously been trained well, but Chase had been training in martial arts all of his life. It was only a matter of minutes before the man was lying unconcsious on the floor.

Chase turned around to see that Andy had already taken out his second opponent and moved on to the last one in the boxcar. The little android was holding the poor guy against the wall with both his hands wrapped tightly around his victim's neck; even though he had to stand on tip toes to reach the guy's throat, he still looked rather intimidating. Chase ran forward and tried to pry Andy off of the man, who looked like he was already seeing stars.

"Andy!" he called, trying to break the android's grip on the man. "Andy, let him go!"

As if he just now realized what he was doing, Andy suddenly looked down at his hands in shock. He slowly released the man and stepped away to let him fall the rest of the way to the floor. The android surveyed the evidence of the fight with mild confusion before his eyes fell on Chase.

"Chase?" he asked hesitantly. "You are okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine now. They're all knocked out."

The two stood for a moment, looking at the unconscious forms of their ex-captors. Chase suddenly felt dizzy and decided it would be best to sit down against one of the walls. His body was starting to shake and he couldn't figure out if it was because of how much he was hurting or because he just now realized how close they'd both come to being killed.

Andy seemed to notice because he rushed over and knelt down beside him. "You do not look well," he said. "I'm sorry. I attempted to get my systems back online sooner, but something was preventing me."

Chase remembered seeing the strange weapon that man had used on Andy back when they'd first arrived. "I think one of those guys used some kind of disruptor on you."

"That makes sense. It must have temporarily deactivated me."

"But what about the bionic inhibitors they put on us? Shouldn't that have turned off your bionic abilities as well?"

"No, I was designed to operate on a different signal frequency. Bionic inhibitors do not have an effect on me unless they are specifically built to block my signal alone," Andy explained. As if to demonstrate, he used his super-strength to break his inhibitor off his wrist and then did the same to the one on Chase. "And you should not be speaking right now. Your voice sounds rather hoarse."

Chase nodded, rubbing a hand over his bruised throat. Right now, all he wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep forever. But he knew they needed to get out of here before more enemy forces showed up. "Come on," he said. "We have to make a run for it."

Andy placed a restraining hand on his chest to keep him from standing up. "You need medical attention," he said.

"There isn't time. We have to get moving before these guys wake up. I don't know who they are working for, which means that I also don't know how soon the backup will arrive. Not to mention the fact that we still have the FBI trying to locate us."

The android turned and ran a scan over the unconscious group. Turning back to Chase, he said, "They will not wake up for at least an hour. And you will not be able to move with speed or efficiency in your current state. I will take care of your injuries first, then we can escape. Does that sound reasonable?"

Chase finally relented and leaned back against the wall again. It was frustratingly hard to argue with a walking computer. Besides, he had to admit that he didn't feel too good. What he couldn't figure out was why his bionics hadn't already healed his injuries. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even be bothered by what was now practically crippling him. After all, he'd survived being tossed around rather brutally by Adam ever since they were little kids; this shouldn't feel too much different.

Andy opened up their backpack and pulled out the remaining medical supplies. As gently as he could, he lifted Chase's sweatshirt to reveal a large patch of black and blue skin resting over his ribcage. He felt the area carefully to determine whether or not the bones were actually broken. He relaxed in obvious relief. "Only bruised," he reported. "Your bionics should help heal that within a few hours."

Unfortunately, the rest of the news was not as promising. The wound on Chase's shoulder had been reopened when the man punched it and now the blood in that area had an unnaturally dark tinge to it. Andy cleaned the area as well as he could and applied a fresh gauze pad over the injury. He also rebandaged Chase's burnt hand and checked to make sure no serious injuries had been added during the fight. Thankfully, there were only a few bruises and minor cuts to add to the list of previous pains. Andy pulled out the jar of ointment he'd used on Chase's burns the day before and opened the lid. Dipping his hand into the medical salve, he began applying it to the bruises on his friend's neck and throat.

Chase was about to thank Andy when he glanced up and noticed a strange moistness in the young boy's eyes. "Andy?" he asked. "Are you _crying_?"

"Androids do not have emotions," Andy said, refusing to make eye contact. "It is merely the sawdust getting into my eyes."

Chase decided not to mention the fact that the sawdust had long since cleared out of the boxcar's air. "I'm fine, Andy, honest. My siblings and I get into situations like this on a regular basis. And usually we're fighting some sort of overly-powerful nutcase with a world domination scheme; so, in comparison, this is actually pretty mild."

Andy looked at him in confusion. "So, you do not blame me?"

Now it was Chase's turn to be confused. "Okay, first off, why in the world would this be considered your fault?"

"I was permitted to accompany you under the provision that I provide protection and medical care. I let you get hurt, so I have failed that mission."

"Now you sound more like a robot than an AI," Chase told him with a smile. "And, no, there is no way I blame you for what happened. I hate to admit it, but I'd probably be dead right now if you hadn't jumped that guy with the gun. And, believe me, if I really thought you were to blame, I'd be the first to let you know."

"You are certain?"

"Honest. Just ask any of my students back at the Academy. Now, come on, let's get out of here while we still have the chance."

Andy nodded and shoved the medical supplies into the backpack. Sliding his arms through the shoulder-straps, he leapt to his feet and reached down to help Chase up as well. The two exited the boxcar and found themselves in a thickly wooded area with mountains just barely visible in the distance.

"Okay," Chase said. "Let's go find Mission Creek."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, for those of you asking for answers, quite a bit of information will start being thrown at you during the next three chapters. Thanks for being patient for so long!**

 **After watching Agents of Shield and The Flash last night (Tuesday night is BEST night of the entire week!) I now have so many cool ideas for stories about those shows. But I promised myself I wouldn't work on anything else until this one is finished, so you have my word that I'm making this take top priority. I won't post any other stories until the last chapter of this one is posted.**

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER:**_ _"The Incident"_  
It will probably be ready by Sunday night.


	6. The Incident

**A/N: Okay, it's been awhile since I lived in this area, so most of this chapter was written based off of memory. (With some aid from various tourguide books, encyclopedias, and travel websites.) So I apologize ahead of time if I portray Kentucky in any way inaccurately. It's my favorite state, so I hope not.**

 **Fun fact: You can actually follow Chase's route through the U.S. if you want to by using Google Maps. All of the places and towns that will be mentioned during the journey are real and shouldn't be too hard to look up. Most of the locations are also places that I have personally visited (and some are places I have lived), so I tried to portray them as accurately as possible.**

 **girlbird3:** Yay, another fan of Flash and AOS! Yes, they're my favorite shows too! As far as Andy, I won't give anything away yet, but I will say that maybe you're right to hold just a little bit of suspicion towards him...  
 **Dirtkid123:** Oh my gosh, I never even realized that. O_o Wow, now everytime I write for Andy, I'll be hearing Baymax's voice in my head! XP Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it so much. Thanks!  
 **Stardust16:** Hmm, never thought of it that way before, but I guess you're right. I'm glad you like Andy so much. That means a _lot_ to me, so thanks! Also, it might be a little longer before it's revealed what happened to the rest of Chase's family. Saving that surprise for later...  
 **Sarcasmisinmyblood:** Thank you! Answers are on their way, I promise. (Yeah, I know, I've been saying that for awhile now... but honestly, they're coming!)  
 **BluePeach007:** Aww, thanks so much! Yeah, you can't complain about keeping readers in the dark when you have us dying of curiosity about Alexa in your story. Guess this is good payback, huh? ;)  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Sorry, still over 2000 miles between Chase and Mission Creek. :( Yes, "battle mode" Andy is a bit different from what Chase has seen of him so far, but more will be revealed about that later. Thanks so much!  
 **BasketballQueen:** Wow, I hope your laptop works again soon. And don't worry about the "late" review, I'm just glad you're enjoying the story. Yeah, I've gotten strange looks many times when getting too wrapped up in books/fanfics. Good thing everyone already knows I'm weird, they've learned just to deal with it. ;) (P.S. Don't worry, Katrine, I won't be giving Chase a love interest in this story. I know better than to incur your wrath!)

 **Thank you everyone for all the support! VERY much appreciated! Now, on with the story...**

* * *

 _"Stars can't shine without darkness."_

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Incident**

It turned out that the unknown attackers stopped the train along a stretch of track that ran just south of the Kentucky-Ohio border. They decided that their best bet was to catch a bus at the nearest possible location. Chase risked activating his GPS long enough to determine that there was a nice sized town, called Vanceburg, not too many miles West of their current location. Unfortunately, that town also held a detention center and Chase made a quick decision to avoid Vanceburg. They instead headed directly south through the forested hillsides with the idea that maybe any pursuing forces would expect them to head west.

Walking through steep, heavily wooded terrain with one badly wounded teen and another kid who has very short legs would be a difficult task even under normal circumstances. The fact that these two had to keep off of roads and out of sight as much as possible made things even more complicated. Andy helped cut down on their walking time by super-speeding them every so often, but they were afraid of wearing out his battery too soon. Stopping to let him recharge right now was out of the question.

With all of this against them, it was long after dark before they reached a small truck stop on Interstate-64. It had an old-fashioned diner and a large area for truck parking; the sign advertised it as the Smokey Valley Truck Stop. The boys didn't have any money for food, but at least they still had a few rations in their backpack. Andy went inside the diner alone to question the locals about where to find a bus station. They were advised to catch a bus at Mount Sterling and take that into Lexington where they could transfer to whichever bus they chose. This sounded like a feasible plan and they set out at once despite their obvious exhaustion. Keeping a good distance between themselves and the interstate, they followed the road all the way into Mt. Sterling.

It was decided that Andy would use their little remaining money to purchase the bus tickets and a few necessary supplies. Chase was supposed to keep away from the bus station until the time of departure so he would run less chance of being recognized by anyone. Unfortunately, that meant he had quite a bit of time to kill.

Chase found a relatively quiet part of the city to walk around in, hoping that the stroll might help him relax a bit. He kept the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up so his face wouldn't be as easily seen; plus, he figured that keeping the gash on the side of his head hidden would help him avoid any unwanted explaining. For the same reason, he also buried his hands into his sweatshirt's front pocket so his bandaged left hand remained unseen.

As he walked along, he couldn't help noticing how beautiful the crisp, cool air felt. It was so different from anything he was used to back in Mission Creek, or even on the bionic island. Too bad he was experiencing it all for the first time under such terrible circumstances. Maybe he could come back later on with his family to take a vacation in this area - if he ever saw his family again. He couldn't shake the bad feeling that something terrible had happened to them.

His thoughts wandered back to that bizarre dream he'd had while on the train. Was it really only a dream? Or was it an actual memory? He had the scars on his hand exactly as they'd been in the dream, and it also explained how he ended up in the warehouse unconscious. Also, there was a familiar feeling about the events on the rooftop, as if he'd already lived through all of it before. Was it possible? That would mean...

 _No, I couldn't have. I couldn't have_ killed _my brother. I would never even hurt Adam; there's no way I shoved him off a roof. Did I? Is it possible Spike came out and attacked him? Was someone controlling me, like with the Triton App?_

Unfortunately, he knew that neither of those explanations were possible. If he was under the control of either Spike or the Triton App, he wouldn't be able to remember anything that happened during that time. But he remembered all of the events from that fight so clearly. So what was the real explanation?

Adam's words came back to him. _"It doesn't matter. You're dead now anyway."_ What did that mean? Did it have anything to do with the FBI chasing him? What did he do?

A nearby sound caught Chase's attention. It sounded like several pairs of sneakers walking along a sidewalk. He would have simply dismissed the sound as commonplace if it hadn't been for the _way_ they were walking. There was a stealthy quality to their step that made it stand out. The noise was coming from the next street over and Chase decided he'd better check it out. As he was cutting through a backyard on his way towards the sound, he wondered again why his bionic senses seemed to be so much more sensitive than before. It was like being in a constant state of hyper-awareness. He'd been trying to adjust to it ever since waking up in the warehouse, but sometimes it was hard to ignore.

Deciding to put this to good use, he tried focusing on the direction the sounds were coming from in an effort to determine what he was about to walk in on. He could hear five distinct sets of footsteps and, when he focused hard enough, he could even hear the differences in the way they moved and their whispered voices. Even from this distance he could smell the traces of previously smoked cigarettes. As he rounded a corner, he finally spotted the group standing in the shadows of an alley across the street. It was dark enough in there that Chase probably wouldn't have noticed them without the aid of his heightened bionic vision. He also could see that two of them were holding large, heavy objects.

The reason for their suspicious gathering became apparent when a lone figure began strolling down the street. He was a small man carrying a bag of groceries and whistling to himself as he walked. The man looked like he was on his way home from work, probably the night shift at some nearby business. He would be passing in front of the alley entrance within a few dozen yards.

Chase didn't want to reveal his bionics out here in public. Not only would that draw a _lot_ of attention to himself, but he also couldn't be sure exactly how human-and-bionic relations stood at the moment - especially if Andy had been correct in stating that the bionics were all gone. Choosing a less confrontational approach, Chase crossed the street and began walking towards the man from the opposite direction. They passed each other when the man still had quite a nice distance between himself and the alley entrance. Chase reached out, grabbed the man's arm, and whispered quickly in his ear.

"There are some people waiting in the alley to rob you. You should probably hang a left at the next corner."

The guy glanced down at him in surprise, but Chase turned and started walking away immediately. Apparently deciding to be safe rather than sorry, the man did as instructed and was soon gone from sight. Unfortunately, there wasn't too much opportunity for Chase to feel good about the near-save.

He heard their approach and spun around quickly to meet them head-on. The gang circled around him menacingly and the leader stepped forward. Up close, Chase was surprised to see that they were merely teenagers. The oldest was probably only seventeen. Despite their young age, however, they were all rather large and muscular.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" the leader asked angrily. He was probably only sixteen, but he was over-sized in both height and muscle. He also looked about as smart as a brick. Chase decided to file that information away in case it came in handy in the immediate future.

"What are you talking about?" Chase asked. "I didn't do anything."

"We saw you talking to that guy," the gang leader said. "You warned him off, didn't you? You have any idea how long we staked out the street to make sure we get him right after he get off work?"

Although it was hard, Chase managed to restrain himself from correcting the guy's grammar. He also had a feeling these delinquents had only put, at the most, a few hours' preparation into this attempted robbery. It was painfully evident in the way they acted and carried themselves. They were common bullies trying to take the next step into actual crime. Still, he'd prefer to avoid trouble at the moment.

"Look," he said. "I'm not trying to start anything here. Why don't we just go our separate ways and let this drop? Besides, statistics show that you have a large chance of ending up in prison if you continue to rob people like this. I mean, you don't exactly have a well organized group here."

The gang leader smirked and took a step closer. "Oh, is that right, Mr. Know-it-all? You think you're some kinda genius, don't you?"

"Actually..." Chase was tempted to say something about his IQ level, but he could almost hear Bree's voice in his head saying how dumb that would be at the moment. He decided to try for a new tactic. "Hey, I'm sorry if I ruined your evening, but I really have to be getting out of here."

"Yeah, it isn't gonna be that easy."

 _Oh, come on. It's like I'm a magnet for trouble today._

"Hey, if you want money from me, I don't have any. And I really need to get to the bus station, so..."

One of the other gang members suddenly stepped up behind Chase and shoved him forward a few steps. The gang leader took another step forward, boxing him in. The other teens formed a tight circle around them. Chase knew there wasn't much chance of avoiding trouble at this point. He also knew that he needed to get to the bus station before his ride left. The best option right now would probably be to make a run for it.

That was when the gang leader took things a step further. He shoved Chase back into the other gang member and grabbed a metal pipe from the ground. "Alright, Shorty, I'm gonna teach you not to mess with my gang's business."

Chase felt something strange growing inside him. It was a feeling he wasn't familiar with and he didn't know how to respond to it.

 _Take them down. They need to go down._

Chase shook his head, trying to clear it of those weird thoughts. He knew the majority of conflicts could be resolved without fighting; there was no logic in solving one's problems with violence. Besides, these guys were just kids.

 _No, they are my enemies. They need to go down._

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" one of the gang members asked, noticing the odd expression creeping onto Chase's face.

 _Take them down._

Reaching out suddenly, Chase grabbed the gang leader's wrist in his good hand. The burly teen was visibly suprised by the strength behind the grip. Twisting the thug's arm around, he forced him down onto the sidewalk. One of the other gang members rushed forward to intervene, but Chase saw him coming and kicked out at him. His foot connected with the guy's ribs and sent him reeling backwards. Two more closed in and Chase had them on the ground before he even fully registered their approach. Most of the gang members were simply young punks looking for an easy mark and they quickly scattered as soon as they realized that this target wasn't going down easily. Less than a minute elapsed before the gang leader found himself alone on the sidewalk with Chase standing over him.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, look I don't want any trouble," he said in a pleading voice. "Just let me get out of here, okay? I won't bother you anymore."

Chase looked down at the frightened teen and felt like someone had just punched him in the gut.

 _What just happened?_

The kid took off running at full speed and was soon gone. Chase didn't care. He wasn't even paying attention to him anymore. He was trying to figure what had come over him. The emotion that had taken him over was something completely foreign to him. Still, he had a feeling he knew what to call it. _Aggression_. It was pure aggression. He had no personal experience with it because usually, whenever it was needed, Spike would come out and be the aggressive one. Out of the two of them, Spike was the one who always carried the fiercer emotions such as hatred, anger, and violence. But Spike was definitely not to blame for attacking these teens. Chase had been in complete control the entire time. He'd intentionally tried to take down the gang members. He'd _wanted_ to take them down, and that thought scared him.

 _Why? This isn't like me. What's happened to me?_

He glanced across the street and noticed a digital clock in the window of an electronics store. According to the device, he had less than a few minutes before his bus would leave. He took off in the direction of the station, but the incident was not likely to be forgotten. Whatever had happened, Chase was determined to prevent it from happening again.

* * *

 _Nova Base  
Central Facility_

Cowan walked hurriedly down the corridor. The bright lighting and harsh white walls contrasted badly with the overall atmosphere of the place. He couldn't help thinking that a dim hallway with holes in the ceiling would better convey the feeling he got when walking through here. Reaching the end of the corridor, he rapped his knuckles on the metal door and opened it as soon as he heard a voice respond.

This room was also brightly lit with rather sparse decor. A large viewing screen covered one wall and displayed an overhead view of the entire complex, which was a low, sprawling concrete building nestled atop a forested hill. Seated at the expensive desk was the person he came here to speak to.

With as respectful a salute as he could make, Cowan walked hesitantly over to the desk and stood before it. He cleared his throat and began, "Leader, we've received word from Typhon Squad." He paused and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "There were some complications."

The Leader turned in his chair and raised an eyebrow curiously. "Complications? Could you be more specific?"

Cowan absent-mindedly began wringing his hands together behind his back. "They, uh, lost the target."

The voice that responded was eerily calm. "How?"

"The bionic subject managed to escape while Desmond was running an interrogation. The target was aided by a young boy who we believe is also bionic. Typhon Squad lost track of them in the mountains. However, we picked up a report of a teenager and young boy entering the bus station together in Lexington. We immediately sent another team to check up on that."

The Leader nodded thoughtfully. "Do we have a description of what he looked like?"

"The target?"

"No, the other one."

"Our agents didn't get a very good look at him. They said he's young and small, but apparently very strong. Our agent at the railway yard reported that he also has superspeed."

"Keep me informed. I want to know as soon as our agents locate the target. As for the other one, I believe he may be more of an asset than a problem - if my deduction is correct." The Leader waved his hand dismissively and Cowan quickly backed out of the room. As soon as the door shut, the Leader stood up and paced over to the viewscreen. He pressed a button on the control panel and the screen switched to show a satellite view of the Lexington area.

"If that is you out there, I will find you. Whether you want to or not, you are coming home."

* * *

 **A/N: After focusing on Chase for so long, I thought it'd be nice to switch perspectives and give you a peek at what's going on behind the scenes. (Although, admittedly, it's just a small peek for right now.) You'll be finding out more about the Leader soon. In the meantime, thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **P.S. I finally remembered to go back and add an OC warning at the beginning of Chapter 1. Sorry for not including that before now.**


	7. In St Louis

**A/N: Wow, I'm so, so, SO sorry for not updating sooner than this. Sometimes life just seems to have it out for me. :P Technically, I probably shouldn't be spending time on this right now, either, but I didn't want to delay it any more than I already have. Things will be a lot less chaotic during the next two weeks (hopefully), so I'll be making up for this by updating more often during that time. In the meantime, thank you so much everyone for being so patient with me!**

 **This chapter contains quite a bit of exposition, unfortunately, but** _ **I promise**_ **it's not just filler. Everything said during this chapter will be coming into play much later on in a very important way. So, yeah, if you skim past the "boring" parts, you won't understand anything that's happening later on. Sorry.**

 **I don't have time for individual review replies today. But I hope you all still realize how much your reviews mean to me. They are appreaciated much more than I can ever say. So big thanks to Dirtkid123, PurpleNicole531, Stardust16, BluePeach007, Sarcasmisinmyblood, and BasketballQueen (and Katrine!) for reviewing last chapter. Thanks so much! And a huge welcome to CrazyChristianCowgirl! Thanks for joining the story and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _"Never fear shadows. They simply mean that there is a light shining somewhere nearby."_

* * *

 **Chapter 7: St. Louis**

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when they pulled into St. Louis, Missouri, over five hours after leaving Lexington. They needed to acquire some funds before purchasing a ticket to Kansas City, so they headed into a small shopping district in search of any kind of pawn shop. Because of the early hour there weren't a lot of shoppers out yet, but there were still quite a few people running errands and grabbing breakfast before heading to work. Luckilly, they were all in too much of a hurry to pay any attention to two teens wandering down the sidewalk - although Andy did manage to draw a few odd looks from people thanks to his habit of staring curiously at everyone he passed. Chase finally decided to leave the android contently staring into the window of a restaurant and continued the search on his own.

After selling off the small assortment of items Andy had collected during their trip - except for the broken watch, which Andy had refused to part with - Chase left the pawn shop and headed back down the street to retrieve his traveling companion. Unfortunately, the thrift store owner hadn't been willing to pay too much for the sunglasses, yo-yo, Sharpie markers, toy dinosaur, and other fairly useless junk, but at least they had enough to get to Kansas City.

Chase found Andy still standing at the window. "Okay," he said. "We'd better head to the bus station."

"Humans are fascinating," Andy commented as he fell into step beside Chase. "However, I fail to see why they are so prone to anger and frustration."

"Most people don't like being stared at while they eat," Chase told him.

Andy's forehead wrinkled slightly. "But it is customary for them to stare at each other during other times. For instance, when making speeches or playing sports."

Chase nodded, barely focusing on the conversation at this point. He was getting used to Andy's total failure at understanding basic human concepts.

"So, how would one determine whether or not it is an appropriate time to stare?"

"It's just something that comes naturally."

"There should be a guide book on proper human interactions." The android was about to comment further on the topic when he looked up and noticed Chase's expression. "Are you alright? You look... disconcerted."

"I'm fine."

"You do not _look_ fine."

Chase sighed. "Okay, I think something is going wrong with my bionics and I'm trying to deal with it the best I can right now."

"Would you mind being more specific?"

There was something in Andy's voice that made Chase hesitate in answering. "Why do you ask?"

"We are about to embark on a trip that will last a minimum of three hours," Andy said, his tone implying that the answer should be obvious. "In light of the fact that our means of transportation is a bus filled with dozens of other people, it would be inadvisable to enter those circumstances without being certain that you will not have what I believe is referred to as a _glitch_. In other words, I wish to ascertain whether or not it is safe to travel on the bus."

"Of course it is." Chase's stubborn side refused to let him slow down their progress, but he also needed to consider what Andy had pointed out. It was true that he should be completely sure of himself before leaving St. Louis. He definitely didn't want a repeat of what happened in Mt. Sterling. With a sigh, he admitted, "Okay, I think that when I hit my head in the warehouse I must have jarred something loose with my bionic chip. My system seems overly sensitive. And I've also had a few weird things going on with my thoughts."

"Interesting," Andy said. "The best course of action would be to run a diagnostic. Unfortunately, I know very little about bionics."

"I know pretty much everything about them," Chase told him. "I've helped my dad and uncle a lot when they have to adjust our chips. We'll need a computer, though."

"It is still early in the day," Andy pointed out. "Perhaps we can locate a computer store that has not yet opened."

Chase looked at him in surprise. " _You_ are actually suggesting breaking into a store?"

"I do not see an alternative in this situation. And we shall not be taking anything, merely using a computer for the duration of the diagnostic."

"Okay, then let's go find a computer store."

* * *

 _Nova Base_  
 _Training Facility_

As she walked casually through the large training gym, she couldn't help noticing all the furtive glances sent her way. It didn't matter to her. She really couldn't care less what they thought of her. Reaching her favorite place in the room, she leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms in front of her chest. With her black baseball cap pulled down almost over her eyes, she watched intently as the various trainees sparred in the center ring. Several of the younger recruits were doing rather well. They were quick and agile and were being taught all the best techniques. Still, she knew that there wasn't a single one of them she couldn't take down.

"Hey," one of the trainees called to her from the fighting area. "Instead of just watchin' us all the time, why don't you come try to take one of us?"

Without moving her head, she gave this challenger a cursory glance. He was young - probably no more than ninteen - and he stood at least six feet tall. He was wearing a tight tee-shirt with the obvious intent of showing off his enormous muscles. A cocky grin seemed to be ever-present on his rather blank face.

 _A dumb jock._

The apraisal finished, she simply shook her head and remained where she was. It was almost pathetic how little of a challenge this guy would be for her. The fight would be over before he even realized he was on the floor. And if there was no challenge, there was no interest in it for her.

Several of the trainees scoffed and made whispered jokes to each other. She knew what they were saying. She didn't care. She knew she was the best; it didn't matter who else knew it. The certainty that she couldn't be beaten by anyone meant that she also did not feel the need to prove it. It would simply waste time and energy that she'd rather be putting into something useful. Something exciting.

 _Ah, speaking of exciting..._

A small man with dark hair was approaching. She immediately recognized Cowan and it actually took a little effort to keep from looking too eager when he suddenly walked up to her.

"The target has been sighted in St. Louis," Cowan said, keeping his voice low so no one would overhear. "Take your squad and scout out the whole area. As soon as you get a positive sighting, put a tail on the target and then report your findings back to us. You ready to leave right away?"

A pair of brown eyes glared back at him from under the rim of that baseball cap. Of course she was ready. She was _more_ than ready to get out of this stupid facility and back in the field.

Knowing he wasn't going to get a verbal answer, Cowan said, "Okay, then grab your squad members and get out there."

She nodded and walked as casually as possible out of the main training room. Pausing in the hallway outside, she allowed herself one quick smile of victory before she pulled out her communicator and pressed the transmit button. "Blackbriar Squad, this is Blackbriar One," she said into the device. "We have a mission. Prepare to head out."

* * *

"Alright, I'm going to start the scan now," Chase said.

They had set up their work station in the back work area of a computer repair shop. Together, they'd assembled their own diagnostic station using various components from around the store. Andy was now seated on a stool in front of the makeshift computer, getting it ready to receive the data from Chase's chip; he had to stack a couple of phone books on top of the stool before it was high enough for him to reach the keyboard properly. After typing out a few commands, he nodded to Chase.

"You may begin now."

Chase set up a wireless link with the computer and began the diagnostic scan, feeding the results onto the monitor for Andy to evaluate. It took several minutes and the android's expression never changed as he scrolled through the long columns of information. As soon as the scan was complete, he began sorting the data to pull out the most important facts.

"Well?" Chase asked, leaning in to get a look over Andy's shoulder.

The little android turned to him and paused as if trying to choose his words correctly. He finally began, "The scan shows that your bionic chip is mostly intact and operating excellently. However, it appears to be out of its proper alignment and, as a result, its link to your nervous system has been greatly compromised." He turned back towards the monitor to point to a few lines of data. "It appears that your system became damaged a few days ago and this damage led to a faulty connection between you and your bionics. That would explain the change in your heightened senses. The signals they are sending to your brain are being tampered with by your chip, so the signals come through less muted than they would have previously. It is also the most likely reason for your slowed healing rate."

"You said my bionic chip is _mostly_ intact. What happened to it?"

"It appears to have been harmed as well. Thankfully, the damage is minimal and only a few minor apps were affected. However, the memory log on the chip has lost its link with the memory core of your human brain, which would account for your failure to overcome your partial amnesia. Ordinarily this link would prevent such an occurance, but your brain must now recall these lost memories without the aid of your backup log. This is not a task which it is accustomed to, so it may take some time. As for the amnesia itself, I believe we can blame the injury on your head for that."

"Which apps were damaged?"

"I am currently attempting to figure that out. It appears that most of the damage was centered around this app," he pointed to a file on the screen, "which is a form of personality alteration."

"Personality alteration?"

"Correct. The app appears to contain latent personality traits which are triggered by certain changes in the chemical levels in your brain."

Chase suddenly realized what Andy must have discovered. "My commando app," he said. "It's a defense mechanism that someone gave me. What damage was done to it?"

"It appears to have been slightly destroyed. The app is no longer active and cannot respond to stimuli from your brain anymore. In other words, it has been deactivated. As for the programming itself, that has been partially transferred into the chip's connective network. Specifically, it seems to have shifted to the part of your chip responsible for linking your bionic and biological systems."

"So, I now have part of that program permanently active in my system," Chase said quietly. His mind wandered back to the previous night when he'd almost hurt those teens. "It couldn't possibly take control of my system, though, could it?"

"As stated, I have very little knowledge in the field of bionics," Andy reminded him. "However, I do not believe that is possible. The app which would have taken control is no longer active. The programming that was 'leaked', if you will, to the rest of your system is simply a protocol program. It contains nothing more than the personality traits contained within the original app. You may feel those traits in the form of strong emotions, mood swings, and hostile inclinations, but you will still be in full control."

Chase nodded slowly. That meant that he was still morally responsible for anything he might do as a result of that aggression. He began to wonder what he might have _already_ done because of it. Remembering his dream about Adam, he asked, "Does the computer log say when all of this damage occurred?"

Andy scanned through several more files before finding something useful. "According to this, the chip became damaged two and a half days ago. More specifically, on Sunday night shortly before midnight. It was mostly caused by a serious displacement of the bionic chip, presumably the result of some form of blow to the head. I recall that you did have a rather severe head wound when I discovered you later that night."

"Yeah, I think I might have fallen through a roof." Chase was a little concerned by that information; it meant that his system was still operating perfectly when that fight with Adam happened - _if_ it happened at all. His eyes scanned over the information on the computer screen once again as he tried to take in everything he'd learned. "So, to sum this up, my memory might take longer than usual to come back, I have a slower healing rate, and my commando app has been deactivated. In addition to that, I now have heightened super senses and a new aggression-based personality disorder."

"That would be an accurate appraisal," Andy replied.

"Just great," Chase said sarcastically. "So now I have to worry about all of that in addition to being the center of a manhunt."

Techinically, he knew he was lucky that his system hadn't taken more of a beating after all he'd been through, but the nature of the damage was what concerned him the most. He often helped Mr. Davenport fix the students' bionics whenever they became injured during training sessions or any of the many mishaps at the academy, but he'd never encountered something like this before. There was no way of knowing whether or not the damage was permanent without a more thorough scan. He needed Mr. Davenport and Douglas to take a look at this.

 _But first I have to_ find _them._

They took apart their makeshift computer and scanning tool - Andy also insisted that they return everything to its proper place in the shop - before exiting the building and hurrying to the bus station. Their newfound cash was barely enough to purchase the bus tickets to Kansas City. Chase took the window seat so he wouldn't be as visible to the other passengers and Andy happily took the aisle seat where he immediately began observing the people in the seat across the aisle. Unfortunately, neither of the boys noticed they were also under observance the entire time. As soon as the bus pulled out of the station, a teenaged girl in a baseball cap slipped out of the crowd and turned on her wrist communicator.

"Nova Base, this is Blackbriar One," she said quietly, never taking her eyes off the departing bus. "We have visual. The targets are heading for Kansas City."

* * *

 _Nova Base_  
 _Central Facility_

Cowan walked up to the desk less apprehensively this time. "Leader," he said, "Blackbriar Squad has sighted the target and the accomplice leaving St. Louis on a bus. They sent one of their squad members on that bus to keep an eye on them."

"What is their intended destination?"

There was something unsettling about that cool, smooth voice and Cowan couldn't help an involuntary shiver. "Kansas City," he stated. "So they _are_ heading west. It looks like you were right."

A thin smile spread over the Leader's face. "They are coming home after all."

* * *

 **A/N: BluePeach007, you had it mostly correct when you said Spike was deactivated. Btw, I apologize to any Spike fans for doing that, but he really would have gotten in the way later on. Besides, this will all become important near the end of the story.**

 **Thanks for reading! Again, I hope to be updating more frequently, starting next week. Once things settle down a bit, I'm hoping to start following an actual schedule (like once a week, or maybe twice a week) but I'll have to see what happens. Thank you so much for your patience everyone!**


	8. Bus Rides and Barns

**A/N: Next chapter is finally here! Thank you so much everyone for your incredible patience. And I want to give a HUGE thank you to those loyal readers who are still following this story after all this time. You guys are awesome!**

 **HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!**

 **Unknowndiva:** Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!  
 **Dirtkid123:** Okay, I really need to hire you as my plot consultant because that would have made a MUCH better story. Unfortunately, too late to change things now. But I'd love to explore something along those lines in a future story if you're okay with that. Or, you should write something like that because I think you'd do an awesome job with depicting the emotions and everything. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Yeah, poor Chase just can't catch a break here. ;) Creepy, huh? Well, that's what I was going for with that character, so yay! As for your guess about the girl, I don't want to say anything just yet or I might accidentally mislead you. More on her next chapter. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for being such an awesome and loyal reader/reviewer!  
 **Stardust16:** Yeah, Andy isn't the most inconspicuous guy in the world. Of course, technically neither is Chase (based off what we've seen of him in the tv show). I won't give away whether or not you're correct about the girl. I will say that you are right in guessing that's a code name. Fun fact: that code name is from the Bourne trilogy that this is based off of. Anyway, thank you and have a Happy Thanksgiving! (I know your Thanksgiving was last month, but I'm going to wish you a happy thanksgiving anyway!)  
 **Fannnnn (Guest reviewer):** Aww, thanks so much! Unfortunately, the rest of the family won't be making an appearance quite yet. Later though, I promise.  
 **Sarcasmisinmyblood:** Thanks! Yeah, more about Blackbriar squad and Blackbriar 1 next chapter. Until then, here's a little more about the Leader in this chapter. Thanks again and have a Happy Thanksgiving!  
 **CrazyChristianCowgirl:** Aww, thank you so much! :D Not sure if Chase (or anyone else) would agree with you about Andy being a "cool" kid, though. ;) Happy Thanksgiving!  
 **Asori:** Yay, you caught up! Thank you so much for all the reviews on the last several chapters. Believe me, I completely understand how busy life can get sometimes. Thank you so much for all the help and encouragement in each of my stories. Take care and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

* * *

 _"When you have been through the storm and come out on the other side, look around you. The people still standing beside you are your true friends."_

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Bus Rides and Barns**

Androids don't feel emotions. But if they could, Andy decided that he would be feeling pleasure right now. One thing he'd discovered during this trip was that a bus provided an excellent opportunity to observe humans in a closed environment. For a while, he was content to simply watch the seat across the aisle from him. Apparently it was a popular enough seat that the people had to take turns in it, because he noticed that it kept switching ownership every so many minutes. Some of the people even stared back at him and Andy was quick to put into practice the "wave" gesture he'd observed other humans making so often. He must not be doing it correctly, however, because no one returned the gesture.

After a brief stop in Jefferson City, enough people emptied the bus that there were now several empty seats - and, oddly, both of the seats across the aisle now remained vacant. Andy decided to instead focus on the scenery outside the window. They were now passing through some beautiful mountainous areas with huge forests that glowed red, yellow, orange, and gold. He suddenly realized why so many humans find nature so pleasing to look at; he decided that, if he had emotions, he might be tempted to think the view was beautiful. He also noticed that the scenery seemed to have a calming effect on most of the people in the bus.

He turned to look at Chase, who was staring quietly out the window. For some reason, the scenery didn't seem to help calm him. Andy wondered why he was so different from other humans. Was it because he was bionic?

Leaning back in his seat, Andy thought once more about this trip they were taking. He hoped they would reach California safely, although every time he calculated the odds in his head, it came out against their favor. He didn't bother pointing this out because he knew it would make no difference to Chase. He wondered why humans never seem to be discouraged by logic when they want something badly enough. Oh, well. He was going to help Chase find his family. That was his new mission. It was definitely better than his original mission...

No, he wouldn't think about that. He no longer served that purpose. He had a new leader now. And this leader was much better; this leader didn't think of him as a mistake. True, that was most likely because Chase didn't even know. And, if Andy could help it, he would never know.

They emerged from the forests and cliffs to cross a wide river. Once on the other side, they were now driving through an endless expanse of flat nothingness. Corn and soybean fields stretched out to the horizons on each side. It was late enough in the year that the plants had already been harvested, leaving behind the dead yellow stalks as far as the eye could see. Storm clouds gathered ominously above and a violent wind whipped through the barren landscape. There was something oddly beautiful about the empty world in which they now traveled. It was strange how this place could be both lonely and breathtaking at the same time.

Andy decided to scan everyone on the bus. He was curious how this sudden change of scenery affected each person's mood. After all, humans seem easily influenced by what they see. Several people were asleep and some were too busy being annoyed at the loss of cell service to notice what was outside the window. A few of the passengers were taking pictures of the view. His scanner ran over one tall man near the back of the bus and Andy immediately turned away in surprise.

"You okay?" Chase asked, having noticed the way the android had jumped.

Andy paused to consider his answer. Logically, he should tell Chase; after all, Chase was his new leader. But something inside didn't want to take the logical route this time. A small part of him was... _scared_? No, that was impossible. Androids do not feel emotions. Still... "Yes, I am fine. I was merely observing the landscape. This part of the country fascinates me."

Chase shrugged and turned back towards the window. Andy didn't feel much like watching the scenery anymore.

* * *

 _Nova Base Facility_  
 _Underground prison block #127_

Randall hurried along his way, being careful to avoid the laser beams that acted as bars for the cells. He tried his best to ignore the sights and sounds of the prison. So many people...

He reached one particular cell and stopped. The laser bars on this cell were deactivated and a small group of people were standing inside. Hovering immediately outside the doorway, he focused on _not_ looking at the interrogation going on inside. He cleared his throat loudly to gain the attention of the room's occupants. Cowan noticed and stepped into the corridor. He pretended not to notice Randall's obvious distate for what was happening.

"What is your report?" Cowan asked, his voice sounding weary.

Randall stood at attention as he said, "Sir, our agents report that the targets left the bus in Kansas City, transferred to another, and took that one into Topeka, Kansas. They hitchhiked the next 120 miles to Salina, Kansas and stopped there to resupply. They departed Salina on foot approximately three hours ago. Naturally, we could not follow them at that point without drawing attention to our agents. However, our monitoring crew here at the base is keeping an eye on them via satellite surveillance."

"What is the nearest city to them?"

Randall looked at him in surprise. "Sir, they are in Western Kansas. There are no cities. They will not even pass any noteworthy towns for several more hours at the least. There aren't any more significant locations in their path until they reach Denver, Colorado."

Cowan frowned. That meant they wouldn't be able to put an agent back on their tail until the next morning at the earliest. He didn't like the idea of only having to rely on satellite monitoring; there was too much room for error. Especially since the primary target had apparently switched off his GPS locator. Turning back to Randall, he said, "Tell Shadow Squad to wait for them in Denver. And send Agent Ward in as well. Let me know the instant they arrive."

With a curt nod, Randall hurried off to do as he was told. Cowan returned to the cell where the interrogation didn't appear to be getting anywhere useful. A metal chair was bolted to the floor in the middle of the concrete room. Seated there, with his wrists and ankles strapped to the chair, was a young boy; he was tiny in size but his brown eyes were shining brightly with anger and determination. Standing on either side were two guards and hovering menacingly nearby was the Leader himself. Cowan couldn't remember the name of the boy - there were so many of them - but he remembered seeing him before. This boy was a natural troublemaker and seemed to have no end to his stubbornness. He wasn't surprised that the questioning was leading nowhere.

"I will ask one more time and that will be your last chance," the Leader stated, his voice remaining even and detached. "Did they hide it in the Bionic Academy?"

The boy looked up at him defiantly. "Do you think I'd tell you even if I did know?"

"Then you are of no use to me." It wasn't a threat. It was a cold, simple statement. "You will be terminated with the other subjects who no longer serve a purpose here."

"If I wasn't wearing this wrist inhibitor, I'd spin you right off this map," the boy shouted angrily. "You act all tough, but you keep us locked up because you're afraid of us. Afraid of what we can do to you."

The Leader looked down at him with an expressionless face. "You do not understand, do you? You bionic creatures are no longer a threat to me. I will soon have the last one in my possession, and then there will be no one to oppose me. Your small attempts to insight rebellion within the prisoners cannot change that. You have not been an inconvenience, merely an irritation. And that will end shortly."

Cowan followed the Leader out of the cell and waited while the command was given to the guards to prepare the boy for termination. As soon as they were on their way back down the corridor, Cowan gave the latest update. "It is a minor setback, but one which we can deal with," he concluded.

The Leader nodded. "I want the target and his accomplice brought here as soon as possible." With a stern glance at Cowan, he added, "And I want them alive. That is an order. I have special plans for those two."

Cowan silently nodded his head as they approached the end of the corridor. They stopped in front of an elevator and the Leader turned back to ask, "Have we received an update from Washington?"

"Yes, the vice-president has taken over since the president's death. They have declared a state of emergency for the D.C. area and have issued a nationwide manhunt for the assassin. Our agents in D.C. report that the situation is practically in a state of panic."

The Leader stepped into the elevator. Before pressing the button, he turned back to say, "Panic is good. It puts the government on the defensive. We may be able to seize an advantage from all of this. Is the FBI after our target?"

"Yes. We are monitoring their progress as well. If they catch sight of the target, we will know."

"Do not let the target fall into their hands. Understood?"

Cowan nodded and the Leader pressed the button for one of the upper floors. As soon as the elevator doors slid shut, Cowan let out a relieved sigh and headed off towards the command center. He hoped all of this would soon be over. If they could succeed in capturing the targets, they could finally put this entire incident behind them.

* * *

A sudden gust of wind kicked up a cloud of dust and Chase fought to keep his super-senses from glitching. They hadn't been in Kansas long, but he'd already discovered one thing he hated about this state: the incessant wind. It never seemed to stop and it had such a dry, harsh feel to it. At least one nice thing was that they no longer had to worry about being seen by anyone. It'd been well over an hour since the last house they passed. The only thing around was the highway they were walking beside. Even cars were few and far between. At first they had kept to the empty fields but it soon became obvious that there was no danger of being bothered here. Besides, with not even a rock to hide behind, they would be easily noticed no matter how far from the highway they walked.

"I believe it is going to storm soon," Andy commented. "The air temperature is changing and the humidity appears to be rising."

"Yeah, I noticed. We'll have to keep an eye out for shelter."

"There does not seem to be a large quantity of shelters in this vicinity."

"We'll find something," Chase told him.

Sure enough, a half hour later, they came across an old barn sitting abandoned near a seemingly ancient grain silo. Both buildings looked like they were ready to cave in, but the boys opted for the barn because at least there was less of it to fall on them if it suddenly gave way during the night. They dared not light a fire anywhere near the decrepit structure, so they laid out their blankets and sat quietly while the darkness rolled in around them.

It wasn't long before the wind picked up in ferocity and several bright flashes of lightning signaled the beginning of a wild night. Chase was surprised at how quickly the storm rose in intensity. He'd never been in the middle of a midwestern thunderstorm and the experience was unlike anything he'd ever been through. It was no wonder people living in this part of the country often built tornado shelters in their backyards. He hoped that they wouldn't encounter a tornado tonight.

A flash of lightning lit up the entire barn as brightly as if someone had turned on the lights. The second it was gone, a clap of thunder boomed through the air and shook the building to its foundation. Chase had a hard time with loud noises even under the best of circumstances; having his bionic senses overly touchy right now made it far worse, though. At least he'd had years of practice in adjusting his ears to sudden sounds. After the first hour passed, he was no longer as bothered by it as he had been before.

He noticed that Andy seemed a bit thrown off by the storm as well. The little android was sitting on his blanket with his knees drawn up to his chin and his arms wrapped tightly around his legs.

"Hey, are you okay?" Chase asked.

"I am fine." His voice said otherwise.

"Are you afraid of storms?"

Andy looked at him slightly offended. "I am an android and programmed to think logically. Fear is not logical."

"No, but if you had any phobias, lightning would probably make the most sense," Chase pointed out. "I mean, after all, you're practically a walking lightning rod."

Another blast of thunder rocked the barn and vibrated through the ground. Andy jumped involuntarily at the noise and wrapped his arms tighter around his legs. Chase suddenly felt sorry for the little guy. Because of his robotic personality and high intelligence level, it was easy to forget that Andy was still extremely young.

"Hey, if you want to slide your blanket closer you can," Chase told him. He remembered when he was younger and Adam used to let him sleep in his capsule during thunderstorms. Even though the lab was pretty far underground, Chase's bionic hearing always picked up the sounds of the storm and it made him nervous enough to seek the protection of his big brother.

"I am fine over here," Andy stated.

Chase shrugged. "Okay, I'm going to sleep then. I'll see you in the morning." He settled down in his blanket and pulled the backpack over to use as a pillow. He noticed that Andy also curled up in his own blanket. Even though he didn't need to sleep, the android could go into a similar state of rest to help conserve power. This way, he wouldn't have to shut completely down to recharge as often. Chase yawned and let his suddenly heavy eyelids fall shut. "Goodnight, Andy."

Despite the loud sounds of the storm, exhaustion quickly overtook him and he was soon floating off towards sleep. Just as he was about to fall completely under, Chase felt something small and warm curl up beside him. He didn't open his eyes so the younger boy would think he was still asleep, but he couldn't help a slight smile. He drifted off to the pleasant memories of long ago thunderstorms and sibling sleepovers.

The storm continued to rage outside, but the noise ceased to bother the two resting figures in the barn.

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was super-fun for me to write because we've finally reached my (current) home state. Yeah, I live in the Midwest right now. Just to clarify, though, the area Chase and Andy were walking through at the end of this chapter is** _ **western**_ **Kansas. The entire state isn't as desolate (well, not** _ **quite**_ **as desolate...) as described here. Most of the cities/towns are located in the north-east area of the state and that's a much nicer place to visit. Had to put a storm in here because that's one thing that Kansas has over any other state I've lived in. Midwest storms are EPIC!**

 ** _IMPORTANT: _ So, not quite sure when the next chapter will be up, but I'm really hoping next Wednesday. I'm going to try to start a real update schedule now with a new chapter every Wednesday. **

**NEXT CHAPTER** **:** _ **"The Ugly Truth" - Chase learns something that he probably didn't want to know about his visit to D.C. while the enemy closes in...**_


	9. The Ugly Truth

**girlface187:** Thanks! I hope to be updating every Wednesday from now on. (Although I can't guarantee anything for Christmas week...) Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the chapter!  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Yep, that was Spin in the last chapter. I love that character and couldn't resist putting him in the story. Thanks! I have trouble writing "bonding" moments between characters, so I'm glad it worked. And, yes, thunderstorms can be very scary at times. But I still love them! (idk why!)  
 **Dirtkid123:** Thanks! Don't worry, Chase will be learning some very important things in this chapter as well as the next one.  
 **Asori:** Thank you so much! That really means a lot. Andy's backstory will be revealed during the next two chapters. As for Spin, we'll have to see what happens to him. Don't want to spoil anything too early. ;)  
 **CrazyChristianCowgirl:** Thanks! And, as a complete oddball myself, there's definitely nothing wrong with being strange! (Yep, I'm weird and proud of it!) Glad you're enjoying the story and thanks again!  
 **TekeoMiona:** Cool! Although I live closer to the Topeka area, I have visited Emporia several times. And western kansas is breathtaking! Mostly because I've always lived in very crowded areas and cities (especially on the east coast) so it's just amazing to see so much open land. Anyway, I'm glad that I wrote it acurately and I really appreciate you saying that because I put a lot of effort into getting my facts straight in my stories. Thank you so much!  
 **Sarcasmisinmyblood:** Thank you! Yep, that was Spin. I really miss him and wish they'd bring him back to the show. Well, this chapter contains the answers to a couple of those questions, but the rest is coming soon. (Pretty much everything will be answered during the next several chapters.) Thank you so much!

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! So, I know I'm posting this several hours past the deadline and I'm** _ **really**_ **sorry about that. I was gone all day yesterday and by the time I got home it was time for part two of the Arrow/Flash crossover, so... yeah, this is late. Again, I'm really sorry. But I hope this chapter will somewhat make up for that. Why? Because you're finally getting a few answers! Well, sort of. You'll find out what I mean in a minute.**

 **EXTRA NOTE: I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter. I was sick when I wrote it and I've tried revising parts, but didn't want to over-edit it. If you catch any grammar mistakes, it's probably because I had a fever of over 102 degrees. That's also why it's slightly shorter than my average chapters.**

* * *

 _"To overcome fear, you must walk through it, not around it."_

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The Ugly Truth**

 _Federal Bureau of Investigation_  
 _Washington, D.C._

Agent Andoll ran into his superior's office and stopped dead in his tracks after realizing that he'd forgotten to knock.

"It's okay, Andoll," Reimler said, motioning for him to close the door. "What's the latest update?"

After shutting the office door, Andoll hurried over to the desk and set several satellite images and security camera freeze frames in front of his boss. "Facial recognition scans picked these up," he explained. "The suspect was sighted in a bus station in Denver. He seems to be traveling with someone, though." He pointed out a smaller kid in several of the photos. "Looks pretty young. We haven't been able to identify him yet and there's no way of knowing if he's a hostage or what. The missing persons bureau is checking to see if he's among the lost children records."

Reimler looked over the pictures carefully. The suspect was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up so it was difficult to see his face, but he still matched the description perfectly. "Okay," he said. "I want a team sent in. Tell them to go in armed and prepared for trouble, but try not to start anything. This kid's bionic and we have no idea what he's likely to do."

"Are those agents from the Washington fight out of the hospital yet?" Andoll asked. Reimler couldn't help noticing the nervousness in his assistant's voice.

"Not yet. Now go send the team in."

Andoll nodded and hurried out of the room. As he was walking across the outer office, he was stopped by a tall, gruff looking man. Andoll couldn't remember his name, but he recognized him as one of the more recent transfers from the New York office.

"They found that bionic terrorist yet?" the man asked, not even bothering to hide the loathing in his voice.

"Sorry, that's classified," Andoll said. Technically, there probably wasn't anything wrong with telling the guy, but he was getting a bad vibe from him.

"I always knew those bionic monsters were trouble. I mean, they're basically a robot-person hybrid. That's just sick."

"As I recall, they didn't volunteer to be experimented on."

The man laughed harshly. "Yeah, right. We should have done something about them a long time ago. An army of robotic freaks show up to attack the world and what happens? We give them their own island and let them continue whatever it is they do completely unmonitored! They're illegal experiments and should have been treated as such from the beginning."

"You do realize they are still humans, don't you? They have certain rights like the rest of us." Technically, Andoll didn't know if that was true. Back when the bionic people were first discovered, there had been a lot of debating as to whether or not they deserved the full rights of a normal human citizen. As far as Andoll knew, no clear decision had ever been reached.

The man simply shrugged and turned to walk away. He called back over his shoulder, "There are a lot of people who feel the same way as I do about this. And after the public finds out that it was a bionic who killed the president, I'm sure everyone else will, too."

* * *

"Yes?" Cowan walked a safe distance from the restaurant so his conversation wouldn't be easily overheard. He pressed the phone closer to his ear. "What's going on there?"

"They found the target, sir," the informant said from the other end. "It looks like they're sending a team in to arrest him."

"We need to beat them to it," Cowan said. "How soon will the FBI reach them?"

"In a couple hours. It's hard to get an accurate assessment. They're handling this differently because of bionics being involved."

"Okay, keep me informed," Cowan said shortly. He hung up and quickly dialed a different number. As soon as a voice answered on the other end, he said, "Blackbriar leader, we have a change of plans. Bring in your team to capture the targets instead. The FBI is moving in and we'll need Shadow Squad to run interference. I'm assigning Agent Ward to your squad. Got it?"

"Yes sir," the voice of the teenaged girl came back at him. "Any special orders for this one?"

"Make sure you take this one alive," Cowan said firmly. "No excuses."

There was a disappointed sigh on the other end. "Fine. I'll get my team in place right away."

A click on the other end signaled that the conversation was over. Cowan frowned and returned his phone to his pocket. That girl could be so irritating at times. But she was useful, he had to admit. That was why he tolerated her insolence. Anyway, this whole thing would soon be over and he wouldn't have to deal with these sort of problems anymore. "Thank goodness for that," he sighed, heading for his car.

* * *

Tired and worn out, Chase and Andy finally arrived in St. George, Utah after almost twelve hours of bus rides, walking, and even hitchhiking. They'd left Denver at nine that morning and it was now after eight-thirty at night. It was an easy decision on their part to collect some provisions and then find someplace safe to spend the night. As anxious as Chase was to get home, he knew they wouldn't make it much farther without rest.

St. George turned out to be a rather large, sprawling city situated in a low valley and surrounded by hills and mountains. A unique feature in the landscape was the ground. Everywhere you looked - the soil, the rocks, the mountains - everything was a distinct red color. Chase noticed that it was also significantly warmer here and he was forced to ditch his sweatshirt in favor of a tee-shirt instead.

After replenishing their backpack with water bottles and other necessary supplies, the two boys decided to head out of the city and spend the night in the surrounding hillside. They could return in the morning to catch a bus for Las Vegas.

As they were walking through a relatively quiet shopping district, Andy suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and ran to the window of a TV store. Chase kept walking; he was used to the android's bizarre curiosity towards random things. He was surprised, however, when Andy called to him in concern. Returning to the window, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, Andy grabbed Chase's arm and dragged into a small cafe across the street. He hurried them over to a corner of the cafe where a TV on the wall was displaying the evening news.

"Andy, what's up?" Chase asked in confusion.

For once, the android was speechless. He just stared straight ahead at the TV. Chase was about to question him further when he suddenly realized what news story was playing. Without another word, he grabbed the remote and turned up the volume so they could hear the reporter.

 _"The manhunt is still on for the person responsible for shooting the president on Sunday afternoon,"_ the newsanchor was saying. _"The FBI has not yet released a name, but they have issued this photo of the shooter."_

Chase felt his blood suddenly turn ice cold. The photo on the news was _his_ picture.

 _"It has been confirmed that the shooter was a bionic individual and there were possibly several accomplices as well."_

News footage of the actual event began playing on the screen. It showed a crowd of reporters gathered in front of the capitol building. The president and several other officials were standing on the steps when two teenagers suddenly started running through the crowd. Although the first teen was unfamiliar to Chase, he was shocked to realize that the second figure was himself. Only a few yards from the steps, Chase suddenly pulled out a gun and fired it straight at the president, hitting him directly in the head. The president went down immediately and complete panic broke out in the crowd. Several of the officials ran to the president's body to see if he was still alive while the others ducked for cover. The teen that had been running with Chase finally reached the capitol steps and rushed forward. He knelt down and placed a hand on the president's still form. Before anyone could stop him, he geoleaped away with the body. Meanwhile, an entire army of various guards, police, and agents swarmed the lawn in search of Chase, who had disappeared into the crowd.

The scene ended and the reporter continued the story, _"Although the shooter managed to initially get away, he was sighted later in the evening where the police were forced to intervene in a battle between the assassin and another bionic person. By the time backup from the FBI arrived, the two bionics had transferred their fight to a rooftop in downtown DC."_

Another video began playing, this time showing a nighttime scene of a rooftop battle taking place between two people who Chase immediately recognized as himself and Adam. Several FBI helicopters swarmed the area just in time to see Adam fall off the roof into the alley below.

The screen switched back to showing the reporter in the news station's headquarters. _"The shooter managed to escape the FBI and it is suspected that he left the city. A nationwide manhunt is now being conducted for the suspect. The vice-president was sworn into office shortly after midnight and he attempted contacting Donald Davenport - the billionaire inventor responsible for the bionic people - but to no avail. Davenport and his family haven't been seen since the day of the shooting. The bionic island is under military custody at the moment, but sources report that the students had already evacuated before U.S. forces showed up. Everyone is warned to be on the lookout for the shooter and anyone else who may be bionic. Please exercise caution, though, as they are known to be very dangerous."_

The news story switched to show an interview with some scientist who was simply ranting on about how reckless it was of Davenport Industries to try implanting children with bionics, etc. Chase was still in too much shock to be angry at the obvious misrepresentation of who was actually responsible for creating the bionic students. He muted the TV and stood staring at the screen in stunned silence. After a minute, though, he realized how dangerous it was for him to be seen in public right now, so he hurried out of the cafe with Andy right behind. They walked several blocks away until they located a street that was already abandoned for the night. Ducking into an alley, they finally came to a stop and leaned against the brick wall while trying to sort out their thoughts.

 _So, it's true. All of it. The president... my brother... I_ killed _them. Adam was probably there to stop me and I killed him because of it. How could I? How could I have killed my own brother?!_

"Chase?" a hesitant voice spoke up. Chase looked down to see Andy staring up at him with an expression that was half-scared and half-confused. "Chase, what did they mean? What did they mean when they said you were the shooter?"

He didn't respond right away. How could he? There wasn't really anything he could say in his defense. He'd already seen all the events as depicted on the TV in his memories and dreams. He remembered it so clearly, exactly how it had happened on the news...

 _No, not exactly the same. There's something wrong. Something missing. What is it?_

"Chase?"

"Not now," Chase said a little more harshly than he'd intended. Andy backed up a few steps and remained silent.

 _This doesn't make sense. It doesn't all tie together. Who were the people that jumped us on the train? What did I steal from them? How does that have to do with my trip to D.C.? And where are my family and the students? There are way too many things that don't add up. There has to be another explanation. There_ has _to be._

His thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of incoming helicopters. "I have to get out of here."

"What about me?"

Chase looked back at the tiny android who was staring at him with an expression that he couldn't even begin to read. "Andy, you can't come with me now. Not after what we found out."

"You did not do it." Although he stated it as calmly as if it was a well known fact, Chase could see the doubt and uncertainty on Andy's face.

He shook his head firmly. "You don't know that. Come on, _I_ don't even know that right now. With my amnesia..."

"You did not do it," Andy repeated. "And I am coming with you."

There was no time to argue the point further. A spotlight suddenly lit up the entire alley and the two fugitives were forced to make a run for it.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, well, I kept my promise about giving answers, right? At least now Chase knows what happened in D.C. So, what'd you think? Did Chase really shoot the president? Or is something deeper going on here?**

 **Also, I was (as stated above) watching part two of the Arrow/Flash crossover last night, but I'm assuming that at least some of you probably watched the new Lab Rats episode. How was it? I couldn't find any websites to tell me what it was about so I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me.**

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER:**_ **(will be posted next Wednesday)**  
 _ **"Battle Lines"**_ _\- The FBI and the Nova squads clash with Chase caught in the crossfire. And Chase also finds out something that Andy has been hiding from him._

 **Until next time, take care and have a wonderful week!**


	10. Battle Lines

**Dirtkid123:** :) Sorry, can't give anything away yet. But everything will be explained very soon. Thanks!  
 **Asori:** Ah, cool, you noticed that! Yeah, cyber-cloaks were a popular guess but it doesn't explain how Chase is able to remember the events so vividly. The answers will be revealed _very_ soon, though. Thanks again!  
 **PurpleNicole531:** Those are some good theories, but I don't want to give away whether or not they are correct. The answers are coming very soon. And thank you for filling me in on what I missed last week. It sounds like it was a funny episode. Thank you!  
 **Stardust16:** Yes, everything about Andy's past will be revealed next chapter. And, yeah, their friendship is definitely going to take a change for the worse. All that will be covered in the next chapter. Thank you so much!  
 **girlface187:** Thank you, I'll try looking that up to find out more about it. I'll probably have to wait until they post that episode on Netflix, though. :( Thank you anyway, and thanks for the encouragement!

* * *

 **A/N: This is sort of a "Part 2" to last week's chapter, picking up right where that one left off. It was originally supposed to be all one chapter, but that would have made it** _ **really**_ **long, so I split it into two parts. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _"The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."_  
 _\- Nelson Mandela_

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Battle Lines**

 _St. George, Utah_

The FBI helicopter circled in low over the buildings in an attempt to locate a suitable landing place. Agent Bryant turned to his team and shouted loudly enough for them to hear him above the noise of the helicopter. "Okay, men, we're going to touch down on that roof in a moment. Get out and get down to the street as quickly as possible. We're going to try to box in the suspect. But remember that he is bionic and he may have a hostage with him. If you encounter him, do not engage. That's an order. Got it?"

The men nodded. A moment later, they touched down on the building's roof and scrambled out of the helicopter. The pilot waited until they were clear of the rotating blades before taking off again to continue surveillance from the air.

Bryant motioned to his team and said, "Okay, men, get moving. Try to keep him from entering any crowded parts of the city. We don't want civilian casualties. Move out."

* * *

Blackbriar One leaned carefully around the edge of the building, just enough to check on the FBI team's current position. Turning back to her squad, she said, "Okay, they're gone. Shadow Squad is already moving in to deal with them. Our job is to get the bionic. Remember, the Leader wants us to bring in the target alive, and that goes for the other kid as well. Any slip ups, and I'll personally see to it that you don't make it back to Nova Base alive. Got it?"

The rest of the squad nodded silently.

"Good. Let's move in." She paused as she noticed someone new join the group. He was tall, dark haired, and probably in his early twenties. "Who are you?"

"Agent Ward." The guy extended a hand in greeting but retracted it again when she merely glared at it. "I was sent in from Nova Base to assist in this operation."

"They said you were coming. Not sure why they thought we couldn't handle this, though."

"Well, this is sort of my area of expertise. With my experience in capturing bionics, I know more about the species than most people do."

"Not more than me, pal," she mumbled under her breath. Speaking up, she added, "Fine, let's get this over with. Ready, squad? Let's go."

* * *

Chase ducked into the doorway of a building and flattened himself against the metal door; Andy did the same. The helicopter passed overhead a moment later and, thankfully, didn't seem to notice them in their hiding place. They took off running in the opposite direction, making sure to keep themselves hidden in the shadows as much as possible.

Chase was really torn about what to do right now. He'd been on the run from the authorities once before - when his bionic secret had first been discovered - and he didn't like the idea any better now then he had at that time. On the one hand, he felt like it might be best to simply turn himself over to the FBI. If he really was guilty, he needed to face the consequences. Besides, he couldn't live the rest of his life hiding from the government. But there was another part of him that knew his family needed him. He had to figure out what was really going on.

He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and motioned for Andy to pause as well.

"What's wrong?" Andy asked in a whisper.

"I'm picking up something," Chase told him. He focused his bionic hearing on the sound to determine exactly what he'd heard. "That direction," Chase said, pointing off towards the left. "There's a group of eight guys a block over and headed this way. They're all carrying weapons and- wait a second. One of them is talking on the radio. It's the FBI."

"Then we should probably deviate from our current course," Andy said, tugging on Chase's arm.

"Hold on a minute. There's someone else headed this way from the opposite direction."

"Most likely another team of law enforcement men."

Chase shook his head. "No, it's a team of six people, but there's something different about them. There's something strange in the way they're moving. Also, they're a lot more heavily armed than the FBI would be."

"An elite squad perhaps," Andy said, pulling harder on Chase's arm. "We should probably evacuate the area before they arrive."

Chase continued to stare in the direction that the other team was approaching from before suddenly glancing down at the android with a strange expression. Andy backed up a step and lowered his eyes nervously. "Andy," Chase started to stay, keeping his voice as steady as possible, "did you-"

Before he could finish, a shot rang out in their direction. It was followed closely by several more. The two boys scrambled for cover behind a metal dumpster. The FBI had arrived on the scene faster than they'd anticipated.

A voice called out authoritatively, "Come out with your hands up. We have the area surrounded and we are prepared to do whatever is necessary if you do not come willingly."

Chase was slightly offended that they thought he would be so easily fooled. According to his area scans, this was the only FBI team in the immediate vacinity. The other teams had been radioed to, but it would definitely be several minutes before they could arrive. He was spared having to respond, however, by the sudden appearance of the mystery team. To Chase's surprise, the newcomers immediately spread out to take up strategic positions around the street before pointing their weapons directly at the FBI team. The squad leader motioned to his men and they began firing at the law officials.

"Well, that's an unexpected twist," Chase mumbled to himself. He leaned around the dumpster just enough to get a better view of the chaos. This would probably be the best time to make a hasty retreat, he decided.

Unfortunately, nothing ever seemed to work out for him. He was just about to make his escape from the area when one of the enemy squad members fired directly at the FBI man standing closest to the dumpster. The energy emission from the strange weapon shot towards the agent with amazing speed and deadly accuracy. Chase knew the man would be killed if he didn't do something. Leaping out of his cover, he ran the few yards distance and threw himself in front of the FBI agent. His force field activated without a moment to spare and the energy blast dissipated harmlessly on its surface. The agent stared at him in surprise and disbelief. Chase decided not to stick around long enough for the guy to overcome his shock and arrest him. Turning around, he headed for the nearest alley entrance at a dead run.

Reaching the alley unharmed, he hurried down it without slowing his speed for a moment. It wasn't until he'd emerged into a narrow street that he realized his traveling companion was nowhere around. Should he go back and get Andy?

 _He's been lying to me. I know that now. For all I know, he might be working for the enemy. I certainly can't trust him anymore. I was wrong to trust him in the first place._

But none of that mattered, Chase realized. Whatever his true motivations were, Andy had helped him out of so many dangerous situations over the last few days. On the train, he'd even risked himself to save Chase's life. There was no way he was going to leave the kid trapped in the middle of a shootout. Making his decision, Chase turned around to head back through the alley. That was when he heard a new voice speak up.

"So, you're the target, huh?"

Chase spun around to see a tall, young guy standing a few yards away. The stranger had been hiding against the wall of a building. "Who are you?"

"Name's Ward," the guy said casually, almost conversationally. "I guess it really doesn't matter if I tell you. This is the last conversation you'll have with anyone outside of the base."

"Base?" Chase's thoughts wandered back to the radio conversation he'd overheard on the train. "Nova Base?"

Ward glanced at him in mild surprise. "Where else? The Leader has been waiting to have a talk with you. Something tells me it won't be a pleasant one."

"Who is the 'Leader'? And why does he want _me_?"

"What is wrong with you?" Ward asked with a laugh. "It doesn't matter. Are you coming in peacefully or unconscious? Because it really doesn't make a difference to me."

Chase tried hard to recall any memories he might have of Nova Base or the Leader. It was obvious from the way Ward was speaking that these were things that should be common knowledge to him. But they weren't. He vaguely recognized the names, but nothing more. How did they fit into his life? Something told him that they were very significant, but he couldn't figure out why.

 _How do these things have anything to do with me? I'm from Mission Creek and I'm now a mentor at the Bionic Academy. So where does Nova Base come into that picture? Why do I get the feeling that I've been there before?_

"So what's your decision?" Ward asked.

"Where's my family?" Chase demanded. "What did you guys do to the students?"

"Oh, come on, you're supposed to be some kind of genius. Figure it out for yourself. Now, are you coming nicely?"

Chase held out his fist and activated his laser bow. "I don't think so," he said angrily. "Tell me where my family is."

An amused grin came to Ward's face. "Make me," he challenged.

* * *

"Get inside that building behind us," Agent Bryant ordered one of his men. "Use that second story window to act as our sniper. Radio to me the positions of anyone you can sight." The man nodded and immediately hurried off to obey. Bryant turned to one of his other men and asked, "Anyone seen the suspect?"

The other agents shook their heads. "I haven't seen him since the shooting started," one of them said.

Bryant nodded and turned his attention back to the shootout. He needed to end this as quickly as possible before any civilians were endangered. The problem was, he had no idea who they were now up against. These newcomers could be more bionic people, or they could be someone else working with the assassin. There was also the slim possibility that there was a third group involved who was against both the FBI _and_ the bionic kid, but that didn't seem extremely likely. Bryant needed to put an end to the shootout as well as locate the bionic suspect before he had a chance to disappear again.

He called to one of his men, "Get on the radio and call for air support from those helicopters. Also, figure out when that backup is coming."

"Yes, sir," the agent replied, grabbing his radio.

Another FBI agent suddenly joined their little group. Bryant recognized him as Veir - the youngest member of the team and one of their newest recruits. Veir crouched down behind the vehicles they were using as cover.

"Where have you been?" Bryant asked.

"Sorry, sir, I got pinned down over by the dumpster," Veir answered. "It took me a while to get out of there."

"Any sign of the bionic?"

"He was behind that dumpster right before the shooting started, but he ran off several minutes ago."

"Which direction?" Bryant asked quickly. He waited until the younger agent pointed out the nearby alley entrance before ordering the rest of the men, "As soon as that backup gets here, we rush that alley. Got it? We can't afford to let him get away again."

The other men nodded silently. Veir shifted uncomfortably and looked at his superior officer with an obvious question on his lips. Bryant motioned that it was okay for him to ask it.

"Well, sir, are we sure that this bionic is as dangerous as the reports claim?"

"Of course," Bryant said in surprise.

Veir looked at the ground nervously and continued, "It's just that he- well, he didn't _seem_ like the killer I was expecting." He didn't want to mention the fact that the suspect had saved his life a few minutes ago. He had a feeling his superiors wouldn't be too pleased to hear that.

"Did you forget that this bionic _murdered the president_ a few days ago?! Now follow your orders and help take down this assassin before he kills anyone else."

"Yes, sir," Veir said, but there was still a hint of doubt in his voice that Bryant knew he would have to address later.

* * *

Chase had to admit, this guy was good. It was obvious that Ward had fought bionics before, and that he knew exactly what he was doing. Chase had fought evil androids, rogue bionics, and even Victor Krane before, but he was struggling badly to keep the upper hand against this one regular human - although Chase blamed part of that on the fact that he was still not operating at peak health and didn't have full control of his bionics. Still, should he be having this much trouble?

Ward dodged away from a kick and managed to land a punch of his own. He followed up on it quickly by swinging his leg around and driving his foot into his opponent's stomach.

Chase was thrown backward by the kick and his back slammed into the alley wall. He recovered much faster than expected, though. Activating his force field, he managed to stop a brick that was flying his direction. Afterwards, he shrunk his force field down to a small sphere and let it go at his attacker. Ward was caught off guard and stumbled backward several paces. Chase sighted a large metal pipe nearby and used his magnetism app to throw it in Ward's direction. Before his opponent had a chance to retaliate, Chase ran forward and side tackled the guy straight into the wall. Ward didn't move from his sprawled position on the ground, and Chase took a deep breath in relief. Still, something made him check the pulse in Ward's neck to make sure no permanent damage had been done.

 _I shouldn't care, but I do. Why would I care about him? He's the enemy. If he lives, he will only continue to hunt me. Maybe even hurt my family. I shouldn't feel guilty if I end him right here and now. He's the enemy..._

Shaking his head, Chase tried to clear it of those kind of thoughts. He knew it was the aggression app messing with him.

 _No, Ward isn't the enemy. He's a person. A human. Somewhere out there are family members or friends who will miss him if he's gone._

It felt like he was split into two halves that were at war with each other. The one half that felt only anger at the people who had taken his family away; the other half that couldn't hurt anyone, no matter how much they deserved it. At least the second half seemed to be winning right now. Chase felt his anger level coming down and the intrusive thoughts fled to the back of his mind.

 _Good. Now I have bigger things to worry about._

His bionic hearing picked up someone talking into a radio nearby.

 _ **"Blackbriar Squad, this is Blackbriar One. Agent Ward is down. Move in immediately."**_

The next second, three more people swarmed into the alley and surrounded him. They all took a quick step back as one of the squad members suddenly threw a small, round object onto the ground in front of Chase. With a chill, he recognized the device and what it was capable of doing. He immediately activated his force field and waited until the deadly weapon detonated with a blinding flash of light. As soon as the light was clear, he dropped his shield and looked around for where the new intruders had gotten to. Unfortunately, the bright light left him temporarily sightless and, in the time it took for his eyes to adjust, one of the squad members jumped forward and pointed a bionic signal interrupter at him. He heard the signal emit from the remote but, oddly, his bionics remained online. When his vision finally cleared enough to see everything, he was surprised to find that the man had been tackled to the ground and was now wrestling around on the alley floor with a very tiny - and very familiar looking - figure. The signal interrupter had fallen harmlessly to the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chase saw another squad member move. He turned around just in time to see another of those round devices being thrown right at them.

"Andy!" Chase yelled a quick warning. "Force field. Now!"

The little android stopped struggling with the man on the ground and glanced over at the device. Immediately registering what must be happening, Andy looked up at Chase with a frightened expression. "I- I can't!"

With his bionic hearing, Chase was keeping track of the device's internal timer. It was about to detonate in less than a second. He jumped forward as quickly as he could and, landing in a huddle with Andy and the downed squad man, he activated his own force field. The protective blue shield surrounded all three of them an instant before the device detonated. This time, Chase was careful to close his eyes against the blinding glare. Even after it had passed, he kept the shield active. Looking over at Andy, he asked, "You ready?"

His partner nodded with a set look of determination. Chase deactivated his force field and stepped forward. Together, he and Andy charged the other two squad members and took them both down with little difficulty.

"FBI incoming," Andy warned, hearing the distinct sound of an approaching helicopter.

"Let's get out of here," Chase said.

Andy nodded and took off in the direction of the street. Chase was about to take off after him when something else caught his ear.

 _ **"Nova Base, this is Blackbriar One. Agent Ward down. Three squad members down. The target is escaping the scene. Should I pursue?"**_

Even with his newly heightened hearing, he could barely pick up the low voice that answered over the radio. _"Negative, Blackbriar One. Return to contact point. Bring as many squad members as you can and leave the rest. There's been a change of orders."_

 _ **"Roger, Nova Base. Blackbriar One out."**_

It didn't take long for Chase to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. What startled him was how familiar that voice had sounded. He quickly turned around and looked straight up to see a teenaged girl standing on the roof of the building overhead. The moon was behind her enough to keep her mostly in shadow and a baseball cap was pulled down low, casting her face into even deeper shadows. A moment after he glanced up at her, she was gone. Still, he had little doubt in his mind as to who that girl had been.

Turning, he took off down the alley to catch up with Andy. They would escape here as quickly as possible, he decided. They _needed_ to get to Mission Creek. He needed to know where his family was. He needed to know the truth about the president's death and his fight with Adam. He needed to figure out how all of this was connected to Nova Base and the Leader. But, most important of all, he needed to know why his sister was helping the enemy hunt him.

* * *

 **A/N: So, only one more chapter before they reach Mission Creek! Do you think Chase was correct in guessing that Blackbriar One is Bree? (Remember, he only saw her for a second in the darkness.) And what do you think Chase found out about Andy? Answers are on their way very soon!**

 _ **NEXT CHAPTER**_ **: (Wednesday, Dec. 16)**  
 _"Broken Trusts, Broken Friendships" - Chase learns the full truth behind where Andy came from and why._

 _ **CHAPTER 12**_ **: (Hopefully Dec. 23)**  
 _"Homecoming" - Chase finally arrives in Mission Creek, but more trouble awaits him at home..._


End file.
